


Coming Home

by Neutral03



Series: Slight Voltron AU [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Artist Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gay Keith, Gen, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Headaches & Migraines, Homesickness, Japanese Shiro, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance and Rachel are twins, M/M, Nightmares, Other tags to be added as the story goes., Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Road Trips, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Sick Character, Sick Keith (Voltron), Vomiting, injured keith, insecruity, keith faints, lance is homesick, musican Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:49:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 89,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neutral03/pseuds/Neutral03
Summary: A rewritten version of Team Voltron's journey home to Earth, and all the trouble that they can get into along the way.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Hunk/Shay-Mentioned, Keith & Krolia, Keith/Lance, Past Adam/Shiro, Past Krolia/Keith'sFather, Past-Allura/Lotor, Pre-Allura/Romelle, Team as a family - Relationship
Series: Slight Voltron AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1458811
Comments: 47
Kudos: 83





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm Back! Here's the next installment of my Voltron Series! Here;s the first chapter. I own nothing but the plot and ocs. And this story is also being cross-posted on Wattpad, but the tagging is different because I can never get it to work on there. So no one stole any of this from me and I didn't steal it from anybody! Anyway I'll shut up now and let you guys who paused to read this go ahead and read. Have a nice day and God Bless!  
> -N.

Previously on Voltron... 

In the end they defeated Lotor and got to go in a rift through dimensions and save the universe again. Though the war is still far from over. And they also lost a lot. They lost the Castle ship and had to travel in the lions, which now decided to die on them. They have Shiro’s body or a Shiro body, which Allura was able to put his consciousness from the Black Lion into it. But finally they get to go home. He gets to go home and see his family and make sure that they’re okay now. And he knows that the journey ahead of them is going to be no picnic, but he knows that with his team by his side that he can get through everything that is thrown their way. And finally, they’re coming home. 

The end or is it? 

================================================================================ 

Lance couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe, after everything that they had gone for in the at least year that they've been in space they finally got to go home. He finally gets to go home and see his family and his home, the things that he was thinking that he would never be able to ever see again. Now he didn't know what to think or what to believe about it now. He was ecstatic, overjoyed, and felt like curling up into a ball right then and there and balling his eyes out for the whole world to see. He didn't care if he made an idiot out of himself anymore, he gets to go home to his Mama' and get her hugs and her cooking, he was a happy camper. Finally, he'd get to go back to his house that had his family, his room, and his old life. And he'd get to bring his new family in to meet the old one. It was something that he's dreamed about for ages. And now all of his dreams were finally starting to become a reality. 

Though the circumstances that are allowing them to go home now could have been better, but he can’t really change the past now can he? They lost the Castle of Lions, so they had to use their own lions to get them through the whole journey. And turns out that Lotor was just using them to get unlimited access to quintessence, and he was using Allura to do it. She didn’t take it that well, but luckily they were able to defeat him once and for all. Another thing that happened was that Shiro wasn’t Shiro. Turns out he was a clone made by Zarkon and Haggar, they were using it to try and infiltrate Voltron to take them down from the inside out. And when Lotor took over Haggar was using it as a way to spy on the young prince to emperor. That in itself was its own big mess. The ‘Clone Shiro’ as Lance dubbed him went nuts. He took Lotor and tried to take him back to Haggar for who the Hell knows why. Lance really doesn’t care at this point since Lotor’s dead somewhere in the Quintessence Field, and Haggar is currently M.I.A. Keith had to go after the rogue clone, and he almost ended up dead. Luckily, they were able to get to the both of them in time, and neither one of them are dead. They were able to save the clone body since they’ve figured out that the real Shiro’s body is gone, but his conscience is trapped in the Black Lion and it has been for a while now. Whoops. And Keith got banged up really bad but the worst thing that he got out of it (Physically) was this big scar across his cheek. Lance will never admit this out loud, but he was so relieved when they were able to save them, or more like Keith was able to save both him and the clone and was somehow able to race back just in the nick of time to save them all. 

Speaking of Keith, .. Lance is just really… He doesn’t even know what to say about him now. He’s changed so much for one thing. Lance himself has grown a little bit over their time in space but before he left for the Blade Keith was still noticeably shorter than him. Now though, he’s still shorter than him by just a little bit, but they’re closer together now. His hair has grown out a lot, and Lance always made fun of him for having a mullet before, but now he takes it all back. Keith looks so good with long hair. His hair looks so soft and silky, he just wants to run his fingers through it and play with it for hours. And the newly acquired scar just makes him look even more attractive. And don’t even get Lance started on the other boy’s body. God, Keith’s buff now, well, he’s always been muscley, but it was leaner when they first started out, but now, damn, he’s grizzled. (And Lance isn’t going to acknowledge the fact that he said that last part out loud when he first saw Keith and said that he was his more grizzled older brother.) In conclusion, he looks hot, and Lance really wants to kiss the other boy stupid. But that wasn’t all that Keith brought back with him. For one, he now has a giant blue space wolf that teleports! If they weren’t in such a dire situation when Keith showed back up he would have taken more time to appreciate and baby the wolf, he looked so cute. And there’s also a secret Altean Colony that Lotor’s been ruling over for years, and Keith brought back one of their people.(Allura and Coran are happy that they aren’t the only ones left now.)  


But the biggest shocker of all for Lance about this is the giant purple Garlan woman that Keith brought back with him. Turns out, that’s his mother. His mother! Keith finally found his mother! Lance had to restrain himself from doing a little happy dance at the news. During the time that Keith was the Black Paladin the first go round when they were really bonding as friends, he talked about his family a little bit. It was said, and Lance could tell that it upset him, but Keith did it to try and make Lance happy again. He knew that the Blue turned Red Paladin really missed his family and was more often than not homesick. And talking about family in general normally did the trick to help him. He knew that he never met his mom(until now) and that his dad never really talked about her that much. And then he died trying to put out a fire when Keith was a kid. And that part always got to Lance. Keith’s father was a firefighter, and he died in the line of duty trying to save people’s lives, but still Keith was only just a little kid. He was barely old enough to take care of himself, and for the longest time his Dad was the only family that he had. And one day he was just gone. Even though Keith never outwardly expressed this thought, Lance could tell that he was crushed by it and that it still heavily affected him today, but he was just too scared to admit it. Needless to say that Lance was filled with questions about this. How did they meet? How did it go? Did Keith go all emo on her, like Lance knows that he probably did? But now wasn’t the time for an interrogation about this though. 

Though, Lance probably won’t get the chance to have that heart to heart talk with Keith that he so desperately wants to have. After all when he had tried to talk to Keith when the other male got back, he was brushed off. He may be overthinking this, and he probably is, I mean Keith had a lot of stuff going on at the moment. He dropped that big bombshell of information on them, and then the shit finally hit the fan with Lotor, and everything after that. So, Lance can understand that Keith probably didn’t have the time to talk to him, like Lance wanted him to. And thinking back on it now, Lance could tell by the look on his face that Keith was a man on a mission. Whenever he has that look on his face, he’s mission oriented. He completely focused on something and he won’t stop or stray off of the path until whatever it is that he’s fixated on until he’s done with whatever it is. So, Lance really shouldn’t take any or all of it to heart right? Keith would be excited to see him right? Lance isn’t going crazy talking to himself right? Somebody, anybody answer him! 

=============================================================================== 

Keith really needed a minute to breathe and just take everything in. After all, a lot has happened in the past couple of hours? Days? He really wasn’t sure how much time had actually passed since everything just blew up in his face. His concept of time has really been screwed with ever since they landed on the cosmic being. Both him and Krolia had spent over 2 years traveling on that thing, but they didn’t have an idea how long it’s been for everyone else. But he can sure tell you it’s been a very interesting couple of years. Finally he was able to meet his mother, and actually get to know her and why she left. Keith was able to learn more about where he came from and himself in general, and that gave him more peace of mind than he thought that it would. And believe it or not he’s actually mellowed out over the years. He’s not the same impulsive, and hotheaded kid that came to space all those years ago anymore. He was finally able to get off of the Space Whale with his mother, and his wolf, they were able to escape the Altean Colony with Romelle with no incidents. Only to make it back to the castle where the Team has been working with Lotor?! He didn’t believe it, and then it turns out that Shiro was a clone and it just felt like everything that he’s known for his whole life was just shattered before him. 

No matter how many times that this has happened to him before, it’s never gotten any easier in dealing with it. But, he has come to the realization that he just has to suck it up and move on with life. And he’s never really had anyone to talk to about his problems before. Even now though, he has people to have his back that he can fully rely on and he’s grown a lot mentally, and emotionally, as well as physically over the past 2 years on the Space Whale, but he still has trouble opening up to people. And even though he’s not as emotionally closed off as he used to be, in situations like these he can’t help but just shut down. And he knows that part of the reason that he feels like this at the moment is because he’s pretty overwhelmed. He’s had a very tiring and very traumatic couple of hours, and the shock of everything hasn’t worn off yet, and he knows that when it does, he’s going to crash. 

But not all of it is bad though. He’s glad that he’s back with the rest of the Team, and he has his mother and his wolf with him now. He’s really missed the rest of the Paladins and Coran during his time in the Blade. He really didn’t want to leave, but he had no choice, he couldn't let Lance leave, and think of himself as something useless. And he didn’t think that much about it anyway since at the time according to Shiro and everyone else he was a shit leader anyway. He left knowing that he did the right thing, and that they were better off without him, even if it did hurt him to leave. Now he finds it very ironic, since he’s a pro at leaving. Ever since his dad died, whenever things got rough he left, that was the easiest thing for him to do at the time, and all of those foster homes wanted rid of him anyway so it was a win win for everyone. But now though, something’s changed. He likes the Team, even though he’s the most closed off one on it, he still feels like he can be himself around them. And he really didn’t want to leave them, but Keith knew that there was no other way.  


He won’t admit this out loud thought but the primary motivation that he had during all of this came from one source. Well, to be more precise it came from one person in general. And that person was none other than a certain Blue turned Red Paladin, whose family hails from Cuba. Keith is very embarrassed to admit it but his long time crush on Lance has really influenced a lot of the choices and decisions that he’s made in the past couple of years or so, give or take some missing months here and there. But he will admit that all of the time that he’s spent thinking about the other Paladin has gotten him through a lot of hard times since they’ve been to space especially. And even after all of these years away from the Team, away from Lance, Keith’s feelings for the other male are still so strong that they hurt a little bit. And he’s still not really sure what to do with all of them that are flowing freely through his body for the first time in a very, very long time. He just hopes that this doesn’t interfere with anything that they have to do in the near future. After all they have a whole universe to save, and then there’s Shiro they have to save as well. Keith just hopes that for once things go smoothly for them and nothing insane happens. Oh, but what Keith doesn't know.... 


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voltron Season 7 Episode 1 rewrite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 1

Shiro was asleep. He was just asleep in the healing pod, it was no big deal. He wasn't dead. Keith had to remind himself that over and over again. Even though they were able to free his older brother's spirit from the consciousness of the Black Lion, it didn't seem to agree too well with the fact that they put it in his dead clone's body. Luckily they were able to pull out one healing pod before they destroyed the Castle of Lions to put him in. Allura was doing everything in her power to keep him stable along with the pod working over time, and even then she said that she didn't know if she could save him or not. And it didn't help matters at all that all of the Lions had lost their power and they were stuck on some planet in the middle of nowhere, with no way to get any help. Pidge had done a quick scan when they landed and there were no other intelligent life forms, other than the animals that inhabited it. When Keith heard that he had to restrain himself from breaking down right then and there. It had been a while since he had felt so hopeless like this. He was so lost in his head that he barely registered the fact that Coran had been talking about something that could help them save both Shiro and power the lions again. And all that Keith could do was run his mantuara through his head. Shiro was asleep. He was just asleep in the healing pod, it was no big deal. He wasn't dead, he wasn't going to die, that was something that Keith was going to make sure of. 

Coran had taken Hunk, Pidge, Romelle, and Lance with him to go and find, whatever it is that he's looking for. He really wasn't in the right state of mind to retain any information, and to be completely honest with himself he wasn't really paying all that much attention. But he stayed back with Allura, his mother, Shiro and his wolf. He didn't even have to vocally express this, everyone just already knew and no one pushed him to do it. So he was just standing there looking at his brother's sleeping face through the glass of the healing pod. Keith was so lost in his own world that he jumped when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He jumped and turned to see who was there. He came face to face with Lance, and Keith could feel the little blush start to spread on his cheeks. Lance smiled at him gently, and he was probably doing it to make him feel more relaxed. "Hey." Lance said softly. "We're going to fix this alright, we're going to fix everything and Shirio's going to be alright." Lance told him. And all that Keith could do was just nod his head numbly. "Thanks Lance." Keith said softly. Lance just smiled at him and headed out to join the others on their new journey. And Keith wasn't going to lie about the fact that his heart had started racing and he had trouble trying to control his breathing. He turned back to look at Shiro, he really hoped that all of this was going to work out in the end. 

When he was sure that he was alone with just Shiro, did Keith allow himself to finally crack just a little bit. He let the silent tears fall down his cheeks as he placed a hand on the glass right over Shiro's chest. He had to be strong, he knew this. He was the Black Paladin now, and he was the leader and he had to be there for the rest of the Team. They needed him and they needed him to have his head in the game for all of this to work. But it was hard. The man that he has looked up to as a mentor, the man that he calls his brother, was lying here before him, basically on his deathbed. He just can't unsee that and just go about his day like it was a normal thing. He probably could have done this a lot better when he was younger and he had all of his walls up. Not to say that they're all down now, they aren't. But things have gotten better for him over the years. Some of them have come down and others are in the process, and then the ones that remain up are starting to thin and wear down some. He still had a long way to go though, and he really likes being more open not only with the others but also with himself. 

"Keith." He snapped his head up and turned to look at his mother. She had snuck up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She scared the crap out of him, but he wasn't going to tell her that. His mother seemed a little bit more subdued than he'd come to see her as, and it was just a little bit jarring for him. "What's wrong?" He asked her softly. It was just the two of them alone in the room with Shiro. Allura had gone out to get some air and he had no idea where the wolf went. "I just came to check on you." Krolia told him. "How are you doing?" She asked him. Keith just shrugged in response. "I'm okay, have you heard anything from the other?" He asked her. His mother shook her head. "No, I'm sorry Keith, but we haven't heard anything, though they haven't been gone that long though, but it'll probably take a while for them to find the yelmore that they're looking for." She told him. Keith nodded his head, he knew that it would probably take forever even with all of them out there looking, but he really hoped that they could just go out and come back 5 minutes later and everything would work out in the end. But, sadly that's not how the real world works. "I know.." Keith said. "But I don't know if Shiro can last that long." Krolia just looked at him, and the next thing that he knew she was holding him in her arms. And Keith just let himself fall apart in her arms. It was times like these that he was glad to have his mother back with him. She gave the best hugs. 

========================================================================================================================= 

After his little breakdown with his mother, she told him to go out and get some fresh air. Keith really didn't want to leave, but he knew from the look that she was giving meant that there was no arguing with her on the matter. So begrudgingly, Keith took one last look at Shiro, and walked out of the Black Lion and headed outside. He passed Allura going back into Black but they didn't really acknowledge each other. Keith sighed and ran his hands through his unruly hair. Great, even after all this time Allura was still pissed at him. And the worst part was that she was mad over stuff that he couldn't even control. It's not his fault that he's part Garla, it's not like he can pick and choose what his DNA's made out of. But letting all of that go for a moment, Keith just ended up sitting on the ground underneath a tree near the Lions. He knows that his mom told him to go and get some air, but he wanted to be close by in case something went wrong. 

Dropping down underneath the tree, Keith just let his head fall back and rest against it. He was exhausted, but his mind wouldn't stop racing with all of the information that has been thrown at him these past couple of days, and no matter how hard he really tried he can't process it all. But what really got his mind stuck was the last conversation that he had with the clone. Logically he knows not to pay any attention to him, or is it, it? He's not really sure, but all that he knows is that it wasn't the Shiro that he knew. And that he just said all of that stuff to play on his insecurities to get him off his game so that he could kill him. But that doesn't mean that his words didn't hurt any less. All of his life, ever since his father died, he's always been told those things or a variation of them. More likely than not, all of his foster parents but just a couple of them would tell him those things. How he was just a waste of space, a delinquent, a disappointment, how he was a problem child that they got stuck with because no one wanted him. But all of that changed when he met Shiro and stole his car, it wasn't the best of first impressions, though somehow they managed to make it all work. Shiro treated him differently, and it was really nice for a change to have someone believe in you.  


And before Shiro the last person that believed in him was Gloria, and she's not alive anymore so, for the longest time Shiro was all that he had. Of course he had Adam too, but it took him awhile to really be able to open up to the other man. Though in the back of his mind, Keith always had this deep rooted fear that one day Shiro would realize that he was wrong and that all of his other families were right, and he'd just dump Keith like the rest of them. But Shiro never did, he always told Keith that he was way better than people thought that he was, that he had so much potential. And that people just didn't understand how hard it was for him to open up about himself so they just immediately assume that he's someone that they don't want to be around. Keith would just sit there and listen to him, but there was always a small part of him that just thought that Shiro was telling him this stuff to make him feel better. Then Shiro disappeared for the first time and his whole world just crashed around him. 

Keith's mind just kept swirling and swirling after that. His mind brought back all of the memories that he had with Shiro, and Adam, both the good and the bad. From Shiro teaching him all of his tricks on the hoverbikes, to the time that he came out to him and Adam. Keith can remember that day just like it was yesterday. He had gone over to Shiro and Adam's shared apartment on base after his classes had let out for the day. The night before he had texted Shiro and asked if he could come over to talk to him about something important. And predictably, Shiro had told him yes. So when the time finally came, Keith was nervous. He hadn't slept the night before even though he had taken those stupid pills that the doctor that Shiro dragged him to gave him. By the time that he had made the full trek to their apartment, Keith was about 5 seconds from throwing up.(Which he ended up doing right before he came out and said it.) To this day he didn't know why he was so scared to come out and tell Shiro that he was gay. One of the first things that Shiro did when he brought him back to the Garrison was introduce him to Adam and tell him that they were together. Keith didn't see anything wrong with it. And his response at the time was "Yeah so, good for you, but are you trying to tell me one of you is pregnant?" Adam cackled at that for hours and Shiro choked and turned redder than the Red Lion. Now, looking back, Keith can take a guess and say that he was probably scared to say that he was gay because he didn't want Shiro to know and then be disappointed in him because he couldn't be gay right. But present Keith is really starting to think that past Keith was out of his mind for some of the stuff that he thought about in his younger years.  


Then it moved on to his memories of Gloria. Even though he wasn't with her as long as he had been with some of his other families, she was still the closest thing that he had to a mother until he found his actual mother. And, it still hurt a lot to think about her even on a good day, but Keith still owes a lot to her. She took care of him, clothed him, fed him, and did her best to chase all of his monsters away from him at night. She was the first person that Keith had ever come out to. And when he did her response was the most shocking to him. She had told him."Really? It took you this long to realize, honey, I knew you weren't straight the first time that I laid my eyes on you." Surprisingly, it was also the easiest. Then his mind went to the night that she died. By the end of relieving that night, Keith had to get up and he walked over a couple of trees and threw up. Well, he basically dry-heaved since he didn't remember the last time that he had eaten anything at all. After all of these years that night was still embedded in his mind, with every single detail of the events that went down that night. And how it has shaped him as a person over the years. When he was done he walked back over to his original tree and plopped down. He was still haunted by his memories of that night like they had happened yesterday, and it has been years since then. He was shocked out of his head when out of nowhere he had a lap full of cosmic space wolf. His wolf turned in his lap and started licking his face, making Keith chuckle. He wrapped his arms around him and hugged the wolf tight to his chest and buried his face in the fur. He almost instantly started to calm down. He really needed this. 

=======================================================================================================================

Krolia didn't expect anybody to be coming back into the cockpit of the Lion after she had sent Keith out to get some fresh air and time to himself. She had expected to be alone with the man that her son thought of as a brother for an undetermined period of time. So her first response was to turn around and tell Keith that when she told him to go and get some fresh air she meant longer than a few ticks, and no that wasn't a suggestion. But all of the words died on her tongue when she turned and came face to face with the Altean Princess Allura. The biologically younger woman just stared at her for a couple of ticks, and didn't say anything at first and refused to make eye contact with her. But after a while the young Princess cleared her throat and raised her eyes to meet Krolia's. "Um,.. I'm just here to check on Shiro,.. If that's alright.." She asked softly. It took a bit for it to fully dawn on her that the princess was asking her permission to check on her friend. Krolia shook herself out of her stupor and motioned for her to go on. "Oh, yes of course you can princess." Krolia told her. "You don't need my permission to check on your friend." Allura nodded and moved around her to get to the healing pod. And Krolia moved back a bit to get out of her way. She knew basic first aid and all that good stuff but what the young woman in front of her was doing was way beyond her. So she thought that it would be best just to let her do her thing while she got out of the way. 

Neither woman said anything as the time went on. Krolia could sense the tension in the cockpit though. She can tell that the Altean was wary of her in the least, if not scared of her at the most. But she really didn't care, it wouldn't be the first time that she's made a couple of people cry because they were scared of her. She just kept her mouth shut and watched the young princess as she worked, trying to find out what she was doing and to offer her assistance if any was needed. For the most part though she was just observing, and linking her observations to all of the information that she knows about them. And what Keith didn't tell her, she got from the visions, so she knows a little bit about each member. Keith has told her a lot about each member of Team Voltron, from Allura to Lance, and even their cow, which Keith still wasn't sure how they got one. Keith had talked about Shiro and Lance the most in their time in the abyss. But she did know a fair amount about the rest of the Team, including the princess that was standing before her. And she wasn't really sure how she felt about her.  


One of the first things that they discussed when her and Keith were reunited was how he found out that he was part Garla. After the long explanation on how he brought her knife with him into space and took it to a shop at the space mall that they went to, trying to see if someone knew where it came from. And the fight that insured it with the shopkeeper when they tried to take it from him when he wouldn't sell it.(She felt really happy about that one, even after all that she's put him through he still didn't want to get rid of her knife.) And how they ended up running into the Blade when they were trying to find the person who had rescued Shiro from Zarkon's ship. (She was upset to learn that both Ulaz and Thace are no longer with them, but she knew that the reason that they sacrificed themselves didn't have as much to do with the mission as it did with saving Keith. When she came back to the Blade all of those years ago, those two were the only ones who knew that she had a child beside Kolivan.) She was quite pleased that the Blade did their best in the beginning to make sure that Keith didn't do anything too reckless. (Though the next time that she sees Kolivan they're going to have some words about how many dangerous missions that he made her baby go on.) But Keith mentioned how after he found out that he was part Garla, that some of his team members took it better than others did. And he didn't fail to mention that Allura in particular, wasn't too happy with him once she found out that his mother was Garlan. Keith had told her that for the longest time Allura didn't want anything to do with him. She didn't talk to him, didn't interact, and at one point didn't acknowledge his presence whenever he was in a room. Things got a little bit better when Shiro had a little talk with her after he couldn't stand her behavior anymore, but when he took over as leader the first time she really didn't like to follow his orders. Krolia could understand why she would be mad, the Garlan Race that followed Zarkon destroyed her home planet and took her family away from her, but that was still no excuse in her book to take out her frustrations and racism on her son. 

Krolia hasn't voiced any of these thoughts out loud though since they've been back. Part of the reason was that Keith had asked her not to bring anything up about it, and the other part was that she didn't really know what she wanted to say. So she just kept her mouth shut this whole time. But she really had a hard time trying to keep her motherly instincts from taking over and having her confront the princess about her actions. She didn't want to upset Keith though, but at least if she lost her temper now he wouldn't be in the near vicinity to witness anything. Krolia's head snapped up when she heard Allura's footsteps. She stepped away from where she was leaning against the wall and walked over to the princess. "What's wrong?" Krolia asked her. "Is there something wrong with Shiro?" Allura shook her head at her. "No, no, I don't think so." She said. "He should be stable for now,.. But Coran better get back soon or else I don't know what we're going to do." Allura admitted. Krolia just hummed in response, she knew that this was a long shot, but she really hoped that they would be able to save Shiro, for Keith's sake at least, she didn't want her son to get his heart broken again. 

"I didn't know that you could do stuff like this." Krolia said out of the blue. She couldn't stand the awkward silence between the two of them anymore and wanted to do something about it, even if it included small talk, which she hated with a passion. "Um, well I couldn't really do more than operate the teleduv with my powers before Keith left." Allura stated, "I've learned a couple of tricks these past couple of movements that have helped us out here and there." Krolia hummed in response and nodded her head in understanding. "Well, I was just wondering since Keith never mentioned it before." Krolia said. And she didn't miss the way that Allura tensed at the mention of Keith talking about them, talking about her. "Really?" Allura asked. "He talked about us?" Krolia chuckled a little bit at that. "Yes, there really wasn't that much for us to do on the whale than talk." Krolia told her, and Allura just nodded her head. "If you don't mind me asking, what did the two of you talk about?" She asked her. Krolia nodded her head. "It's no problem at all." Krolia told her. "We talked about each other, and what it was like for us growing up, and Keith talked a lot about the team." Krolia told her. Allura just nodded along with her. "He mentioned how much he missed you guys when he left for the Blade, and he talked about all of the good times he had with you." She listed off. "And he even mentioned your reactions when he found out that he was part Garla." And Krolia turned to look at the young princess and saw the look of horror on her face. 'Bingo.' Krolia thought to herself. She was going to have a little bit of fun with this. 

=========================================================================================================================== 

Keith came to when he felt something licking his face. He groaned and tried to push whatever it was away from him, but they were persistent. He didn’t even remember falling asleep, but he guesses that his body just finally crashed from all of the adrenaline rushes that he’s had in the past 24-ish hours. Eventually, Keith gave up and opened his eyes to see who was trying to get his attention. And at this point he wasn’t the least bit surprised to have a face full of blue fur trying to make its way down his throat. He laughed a little bit as he grabbed his wolf around his neck and brought him back down to his lap. He petted the wolf on the head and he just nuzzled the young man’s stomach. “Hey boy.” Keith said, and his voice was still raspy from when he had been asleep. The wolf just jumped up and started to lick at his face again. Keith started to laugh and it got to the point that the wolf was able to knock the both of them over. And it felt good to be able to just relax a little bit and forget about the rest of his worries for a bit. His mom was right, all that he needed was a little bit of fresh air to get his head screwed back on straight. He still felt pretty anxious over all but he was a whole lot calmer than he was when he first came out here. He felt like he should go back in and check on Shiro and his mom again. He got his wolf off of him and the two of them made their way back into the cockpit of the Black Lion. He was a little bit shocked to see his mother and Allura standing near Shiro’s body and seemed to be talking. He hadn’t expected that one. 

Neither one of them have seemed to have noticed that he had reentered the room. He didn’t want to startle either one of them, since he knows that both women can hold their own in a fight and then some. So he decided that it would be the best thing to just clear his throat and hope that he doesn’t get a knife thrown at him. “Hey.” Keith said, gaining the attention of the other two conscious occupants of the room. “Oh, Keith.” His mother said as she noticed that he was there.Allura turned to look at him too and she was smiling and gave him a little wave in greeting. Keith waved back awkwardly, he didn’t know why Allura was acting so nice to him all of a sudden. But he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and try to find time to interrogate his mother about it later, since he was sure that she had something to do with it. “How’s Shiro doing?” He asked instead. He really didn’t like to be the topic of conversation, so he was trying to redirect the topic of conversation. And he wanted to see how Shiro was doing anyway. “He seems to be stable for the moment.” Allura said. “But he’d be doing a whole lot better once Coran gets back with what we need.” Keith nodded his head, he was trying his best not to let his anxiety show, and he hoped that no one could pick up on it right away.  


  
It didn’t take that long after Keith entered the cockpit that they heard a noise coming from outside of the lion. And not even a minute later and the rest of the Team came rushing into the room. Looking over at them, Keith sees that they’ve been put through the ringer. They were all covered in dirt, and other stuff that Keith didn’t want to know what it was. There were scratches on the other Paladin’s armor, and Coran and Romelle had a few tears in their clothes. But by the looks on their faces, they seem to have accomplished their mission. “Coran.” Allura said when she realized that the older Altean had come back. “Did you get it?” She asked him. “Why yes Princess Allura!” Coran exclaimed. “It took a while longer than I expected but we were able to get the Faunatonium.” He said. “We should be able to repower the Lions with this.” And it didn’t take that long before Coran, Hunk, and Pidge went to work with the Faunatonium to see if it worked. Romelle was standing on the other side of the cockpit retelling everything that happened on their little journey to his mother and Allura. Keith wasn’t paying that much attention to what they were saying but he did catch the phrase “They’re crazy I tell you crazy! I hate adventuring and I’m never doing it again!” Keith chuckled to himself as he was standing over Shiro’s body. Romelle reminded him a lot of Hunk talking like that, it was pretty funny in his opinion. 

“Hey.” Keith jumped a little and turned around to come face to face with Lance. He hadn’t heard the other Paladin approach him, he had thought that he had gone off with Pidge and them, or was talking with his mother and the others. “Oh, um, Lance, hi.” Keith said awkwardly. Keith could feel the blush creeping up on his face as Lance just smiled at him. “What do you need?” Keith asked quickly to get a change in topic. Lance didn’t even seem that phased by it. “Nothing.” Lance said with a shrug. “Just came to check up on you.” He told him. “How’s he doing.” He asked gesturing to Shiro. Keith just sighed and shook his head. “I.. he’s stable, but I don’t really know.. He hasn’t woken up yet.” Keith said. Lance reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Lance said. “But don’t worry, Shiro’s going to be just fine okay, I’m sure of it.” And that hit Keith harder than he thought that it probably should have. “How do you know that?” He asked Lance instead. Lance just smiled at him as he looked at Shiro’s body. “Shiro treats you like your his little brother.”Lance told him. “He loves you and he won’t leave you.” Lance said. He then bent down to pet Keith’s wolf before walking over to Allura and them. And Keith didn’t know why that made his heart beat so face, it felt like the world was starting to spin around him. “OH MY GOD SHIRO!” And suddenly everything went black. 

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The next time that Keith woke up, everything hurt. He wasn’t sure why though, but it felt like Zarkon had taken his brian and decided to use it as his new punching bag. Groaning, Keith shifted around, trying to figure out if it would be a good idea or not to open his eyes. He felt like he was going to throw up if he moved too much. So he decided to just lay there until the pain went away. “Keith.” A voice said softly. Keith groaned at the voice, he just wanted everything to quiet down. “Keith,” A different voice said. “Come on open your eyes man.” That voice sounded a lot like Lance. Prying his eyes open took a lot more effort than he would have liked, but eh was finally able to do it. 

It took awhile for the blinding light to go away and to have his surroundings come back into focus. When the images swimming in front of his eyes finally went back to normal the first person that he saw was Lance. His lips were moving and he seemed to be trying to talk to Keith, but he had a hard time hearing him over the loud ringing in his ears. “Lance?” Keith asked. “What’s wrong, what happened?” He asked groggily. His head and body felt like lead and his brain was so fried that it must be mush by this point. “Hey buddy.” Lance said. Finally, he could hear people. “How are you feeling? You remember what happened?” Keith just groaned and shook his head. He didn’t know what happened, the last thing that he could remember was staring at Shiro and then it all went black. “Okay, I’m going to take that as a no.” Lance said. He looked over at someone else out of Keith’s line of vision. Keith turned his head to look at who Lance was talking to, and he swore that his heart stopped. There sitting there next to him was Shiro. He looked tired, but he had a smile on his face, and it got even bigger when he locked eyes with Keith. “Hey little brother.” He said softly. “ You did it.” And even though Keith knew that they had a long way to go from here, he knew that he could get through anything as long as he had his family with him. 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Voltron Episode 2, but some boding between two specific characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this took a little bit longer than I orignally thought, but here it is! Sadly, this is going to be the last one for a little while I think. I have some stuff coming up this month, so I don't think that I'll have a whole lot of time to write for a while. But I hope that you like this chapter, enjoy and have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 2

It took a little bit of adjusting at the beginning with the real Shiro back in the folds. Especially since having your conscience shoved back into a body that is technically yours, but at the same time isn't can be a little bit overwhelming. Not to mention that it can cause some memory loss too. So they had to go and explain everything in the past couple of months, almost a year that Shiro had been out of action. And Keith even found out some stuff that he didn't know that the Team had done in his absence. But what did he expect them to do, he did leave after all.. But now wasn't the time to get into any of that, they had bigger fish to fry. After Coran and Pidge ran some tests to make sure that Shiro was okay, they went to go make sure that the Lions were still working. During the time that Keith had passed out, they were able to get them up and running again, but they were sort of like any motor vehicle, when you jump it after it's died you have to let it run a little bit to make sure that it's going to work. But it didn't take them as long to do it as Keith thought that it would. Though it left the rest of the group to their own devices. Allura and Romelle had gone off to talk about who knows what. Lance was helping Hunk gather wood for their little campfire, while Hunk was trying to figure out what to cook them all for dinner. His mom had vanished along with his wolf, but he wasn't that worried about them, yet. They probably went to play fetch. So that just left Keith by himself. "Hey, Keith." Shit. He forgot about Shiro. Again. 

Keith jumped a little bit as the older man walked over to him, and called out his name. Gaining his composure quickly enough he turns to look at Shiro to see what he needed. He was halfway up off of the ground to help Shiro with whatever it was that he needed help with before Shiro was in halfway to him. Shiro, seeing the panicked look on the younger man's face, just laughed at him and waved him off with the only hand that he still had left. "Don't worry Keith." Shiro said in an easy going voice. "I'm fine, just came over to see you." "Why?" Keith asked, he was fully standing now, and he had to open and close his eyes a couple of times to try and combat the dizzy spell that had hit him from moving so fast into an upright position. Shiro just laughed at him. "What, I can't just come over and see my little brother?" Shiro asked him in a mock hurt tone. Keith just shrugged, the planet that they were on was spinning too fast for him to feel like he could talk properly. Shiro just sighed at him. "Are you alright?" He asked as he saw Keith swaying a little bit. Keith just nodded his head, and then clutched it when he realized that it wasn't a very bright idea to do. When he opened his eyes again, Shiro was right next to him using his hand to try and steady him. "How about we sit down to have this talk before you fall down and pass out again, hmm?" Shiro asked him. Keith was going to nod in reply but caught himself before he could do any more damage. So he just let Shiro guide the both of them back down to the ground in sitting positions. 

It didn't take the two of them that long to get themselves resituated on the ground again. Shiro was sitting up against the tree that Keith had been sitting near before he had come over. And Keith was leaning against the older man's side, and had Shiro's arm wrapped around his shoulder. Keith even had his head resting on his shoulder. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of ticks before Shiro spoke up.. He was running his fingers through Keith's hair. Keith had let his eyes close and was just enjoying the peace and quiet that came with having his older brother back safe. "I know you don't want me to ask this." Shiro said. "But I'm going to anyway." He told him. Keith just huffed in response, he knew where this conversation was going. "How have you been while I was away, and don't lie to me Keith." Shiro told him. Keith sighed to himself, he knew that he could never lie to Shiro. "I,.." Keith started. "It was really hard at the beginning, I just didn't know what to do." Keith told him. "It was like the Kerberos Mission all over again, but like worse, it felt like my heart got ripped out of my chest." Keith said. "Everything just felt off and wrong, and I didn't know what to do, hell, I didn't even feel like I was in my own body half the time." He confessed. "No pun intended." Shiro just snorted at that and slapped him lightly on the back of the head. "Punk." Was all he said. And that got a laugh out of Keith.  


"But seriously," Keith said as he started to get serious again. "I,.. I really struggled with it at first." And he took a breath to try and piece together how he was going to explain this. "I'm sorry." Was what he said instead. That caught Shiro off guard a little bit. "Why are you sorry?" Shiro asked him. "I'm the one that should be sorry." "No, no you shouldn't it wasn't your fault." Keith told him in a low tone. And Shiro knew not to push him more on that issue. "Okay, then tell me why you should be sorry." Keith sighed and buried his face in his brother's chest, and wrapped his arms around him. He mumbled something into his chest that Shiro couldn't make out, so he just tapped him on the back when he pulled away. "You're going to have to repeat that for me Keith, I'm an old man now remember, I can't hear." Shiro tried to joke. Keith didn't even laugh at that. "I,.. I relapsed, bad.." Keith said. And when he was finally able to make eye contact with Shiro, he could see the tear tracks running down the younger man's face. "I'm sorry." Was all that he could say. "Oh Keith.." Shiro said, and Keith hated how broken he sounded when he said that. 

"Don't." Keith said. "Don't talk like that okay?" He told him. "I know that I screwed up yet again, and don't go on a rant about how it's all your fault, it's not." Keith said as he looked directly at Shiro. "I just wasn't grown up enough mentally or emotionally to be able to deal with it on my own in an appropriate manner." Keith huffed as he ran his fingers through his hair. By this point Shiro and him had changed positions to where they're facing each other now. "I'm not going to lie to you, you're like my brother and you deserve to know the truth." Keith told him up front. "It got really bad, and I mean like the bad that I was at before you met me bad." And Shiro couldn't help the hurt look that spread across his features. He knew about what happened to Keith before he had taken the younger man in after he had stolen his car after Shiro had gone to do a demonstration of the pilot simulator at his school. It wasn't pretty, and on more than one occasion Keith had told about how really bad it was, he had confided in the elder that he had contemplated taking his own life more than once. So to hear that it had gotten that bad again that he had possibly thought about killing himself was worrying to say the least. So Shiro just sat there silently and let the younger talk.  


"I.. just couldn't do it after you left." Keith told him. "Things were just so hard... and I'm probably being dramatic here but that's the only way that I can think of to describe it. "And I couldn't sleep because of either my insomnia acting up again or my nightmares were just so bad that I was just so terrified of going to sleep." Keith said. "And I couldn't eat either, I was just so nauseous any time that Hunk or someone placed food in front of me." He admitted. "And I just couldn't focus at all, and it was just so frustrating that I couldn't deal with it." Keith sighed and hung his head down. "But you're still here." Shiro said after his rant was over. "You're still here though, something must have changed." Shiro said. "I know you Keith and I know that when you get like that, you tend to be very self-destructive." And that was putting it lightly. Keith sighed and looked up at him, and Shiro could see the tears streaming down his face. He had to hold himself back from trying to wipe them away for fear that Keith would shut down and shut him out completely. "Lance.." Keith said breathlessly after a couple of beats of silence. "..Lance had found me one night when I had fallen asleep in the common room and had a night terror." Keith said. "He kept bugging me for a while after that, trying to see if there was something wrong with me." He told him. "And one day when he was trying to ask me if I was okay and we had gotten into a fight he found me cutting in my room." He admitted softly. Shiro could tell that he was holding himself back from crying. 

Keith had to pause for a couple of minutes to catch his breath again. "Lance is the only reason that I'm alive today." Keith said. Shiro was a little surprised to hear him admit that. He knew that his little brother had a crush on his second-in-command, but he never thought that he would let him get that close to him. "Regardless of how much I tried to push him away or those couple of times that he woke me up from my nightmares and I tried to kill him by accident, he never left." Keith said. "He went above and beyond, to go out of his way to help me." Keith told him. Shiro watched his little brother's expression as he spoke, and saw how even though Keith was telling him when he practically hit rock bottom, how his face lit up at the mention of the other Paladin. "I'm not upset or disappointed at you." Shiro told him when he finally spoke. "Even though I don't really remember a whole lot that went on when I was in Black, I do remember being worried about you since I couldn't get to you unless you were in Black." He said. Keith just hung his head in shame. "Keith." Shiro said as he took his one hand and brought it under the younger man's face to make him make eye contact with him. "I promise you." Shiro told him as they made eye contact. "I'm not mad, I'm proud that you're able to tell me this of your own violation alright?" He asked. And Keith nodded his head at him. " I kinda figured that you wouldn't handle me disappearing well, and I know that with your history of anxiety and other stuff that it would have been hard for you to open up to other people about it all." Shiro told him. "I'm glad that you let Lance get close enough to you to help." He said. "So, did you kiss him?" "Shut up Shiro, it wasn't like that!" 

================================================================================ 

Three years, 3 years... Keith couldn't believe that it had been over three years since anybody had seen Voltron. When they went into the rift, it felt like only second in the time that it took them to deal with Lotor and come back out. But, it turns out that he was wrong and the whole universe has thought that they have been dead this whole time. It was a bit of a shocker for all of them, especially when they ended up being captured by Zehtird, and Ezor and their merry band of space pirates. Thank God that Coran and Axca, along with Kosmo(His space wolf that everyone names, even though he said that he would tell them all his name in time, but no one ever listens to him unless it's life or death anymore.) were able to get them out. And now Keith just wanted to go back to his Lion and sleep for a whole movement at the very least. With the day that he's had he just wants to sleep. First there was everyone arguing over who got to go in which Lion with whom, and it was really just a big headache that he wanted to go away. And then there was them getting jumped and taken hostage. All in all he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. But he had something very important to do first. 

After making sure that they had lost Zethrid and her crew, they, along with Axca had made camp on a random uninhabited planet that Pidge had picked up on her radar scanner. Once they had landed Hunk had dragged Romelle and Lance off to help him make them all something to eat for dinner. And Axca and the rest of them saw around the fire that Keith had made to discuss what's gone on in the past 3 years that they've been gone. She told them about how after Zarkon's defeat and Lotor's disappearance along with the rest of them at their final battle the rest of the Garla just fractioned off into their own little groups. So that meant possibly even more trouble for them since the Garla wasn't one united front anymore. But, now wasn't the time for him to worry about that. His main priority was to get his team home so that they could all regroup and go from there. But that wasn't the thing that Keith had to check on. With them landing on an uninhibited planet, they decided to make camp for the night. They had invited Axca to stay until they left in the morning at least. Keith had asked her if she wanted to come and she declined, and he knew better than to push her on the matter. So he just left her to herself. 

Which just left Keith with more free-time to focus on his target. After what happened today he really wanted to check on Pidge. Even though Pidge wasn't that hurt, and she said that she was fine every time that someone had asked her. (She had threatened to cut off Hunk's.. Um how should he put this, private parts with a jagged rock if he asked her if she was alright.(And that was after the 25th time that he had asked her that question.)) So needless to say that everyone had been keeping clear of the Green Paladin for fear of their private parts, but Keith was willing to risk it all to double check that the younger girl was alright. Even though Keith and Pidge don't really talk all that much, even before they came to space when he had only seen her a couple of times with Matt, he'd say that they are pretty close with one another. Keith thinks that it has something to go with how similar they are with one another. Both of them are good at putting up a front, but underneath it all, they're filled to the brim with raw emotions that are sometimes too much for them all to handle. So, Keith has a feeling that this all might be affecting her more than she's letting on. And the other reason is that Keith views Pidge as a little sister that he never had, and he just wants to make sure that she's okay. She's only what,16,17, she's just a kid, even though they are all still technically kids, even Shiro, and she's the youngest of them all. Keith wanted, no he needed to make sure that she was alright. 

Luckily for Keith it didn't take him that long for him to find Pidge. She was sitting at the Green Lion's feet, resting against one of their paws. She was tinkering with her wrist communicator, she was probably trying to get a message out to her father or anybody that they knew, but Keith couldn't be sure. She was lost in her own little world, so Keith took the opportunity to go over to her. She didn't even flinch when he sat down next to her. She was too busy typing on the keyboard of her communicator, Keith just sighed and shook his head at her. It just amazed him at how lost she could get in her own work, but Keith really couldn't say anything though, he was just as bad if not worse when it came to his work. Taking the bull by the horns Keith cleared his throat and hoped that it was enough to get the younger girl's attention. Pidge seemed to jump a little bit at the noise and turned her head at the sound of the noise that was interrupting her work. When she saw that it was Keith she gave him a small smile and fixed her glasses. 

"Hey," Keith said softly as he sat down beside her. "Hey Keith." Pidge greeted him back. "Not to be rude or make you think that I don't want your company or anything, but why are you here?" She asked him. Keith just shrugged at her in response. "No reason, can't I just come over and talk to my friend?" He countered back. Pidge just sat there and stared at him for a couple of seconds before speaking again. "I mean you can and you have done that before, but after today's events I am inclined to think otherwise this time." And damn, that girl is way too smart for her own good. "Okay you got me." Keith told her. "I know that you said that you're fine, and I believe you Katie I really do." He said. "But I still can't help but to worry about you, you're like a little sister to me, so just humor me okay?" He said. And Pidge didn't say anything to him for a few moments, and Keith was starting to think that he really needed to cover his private parts before she chopped them off, but surprisingly she didn't. "I mean physically speaking I'm fine, at the most I have a couple of bruises from where I was grabbed by the neck and thrown into a wall." Pidge. "But,.. emotionally,.. I mean yeah it was scary and if it hadn't been for Coran and Axca I really don't think that we would have gotten out of it all alive." She admitted softly. She then turned and smacked Keith on the arm, **hard**. "But, and I appreciate it all the same, but if you ever try and sacrifice yourself for me again, I will end you Kogane." Keith just smiled at her and hugged her. "I know Pidge and I love you too." He told her and he meant it. And that shocked Pidge a little bit since she knows that Keith Kogane has never been an 'I love you' type of person. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Keith?" She asked him. Her leader just laughed at her. "I know that this isn't something that you're really used to." Keith told her. "But, I've grown up a lot in our time in space, especially on that space whale, and I've come to learn that it's okay to be more open with my emotions and feelings." Keith explained to her. "And I know that you guys just won't immediately reject me for doing so." Pidge was speechless for a couple of ticks there. "I'm glad that you've become more comfortable with us and yourself to be more open then." She told him. "And Keith?" Pidge asked. "Yeah?" He answered. "I love you too. 

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Later that evening after Pidge and Keith's talk, Hunk had called them all over for dinner. It didn't take that long to gather everyone up to eat, especially after the day that they all have had, the whole team was starving. Dinner went surprisingly well in Keith's opinion, they all talked and laughed like nothing was wrong, and they even got Axca to crack a smile here and there. Keith was glad that she seemed to be having a good time. Hunk had convinced her to sit with him so that she could get the first dibs on food since she was their guest of honor for the night. Keith could tell that Axca wanted to decline, but the brief moment that they were able to make eye contact Keith just shook his head at her and mouthed 'Just go with it.' He's known Hunk for a long time now and he knows that the Yellow Paladin isn't one to take no as an answer when he has his mind set on something. So reluctantly, Axca just smiled and nodded and let Hunk push food at her. Keith had to hold in a chuckle for fear that the other Half-Garlan would take out her frustrations on him. 

Another reason that Keith was so calm about all of this and found Hunk's doting on Axca endearing is because he knows the truth now. And he takes great joy in the fact that one of his friend's is determined to take good care of his cousin, just like he does the rest of them. Back when they were on the Space Whale and his mother was telling him about her life before the Earth and before the Blade, she talked a great deal about her older sister (Axca's mother). She told her son that they were very close when they were little, and they only got closer when their parents were killed by the Empire and had to be taken in by their grandmother. And they were like that until they hit their teenage years and her sister started to rebel. Both sisters weren't fans of the Empire, but Axca's mother was more vocal about it than Krolia ever was. And they just started to drift apart the older they got. Things didn't start to turn around for them until she came to her when she found out that she was pregnant with Axca. Korlia was elated to have her older sister back in her life, but things proved to be more difficult since Axca's father wasn't Garlan. At that time halfbreeds weren't really accepted in the part of the Empire that they lived in at the time. So, Axca's mother fled to be with her lover and Krolia never saw her again. She didn't really tell Keith if she knew what happened, all that he knew was that the moment that Krolia saw Axca when she was on a mission she knew that she was her niece, and she swore that she would do everything to save her, and end the war. Krolia used to tell him that she would dream about her saving Axca and the war ending so that she could take her back to Earth so that they could live with Keith and his father and be one big happy family. Sadly, that's never happened.  


Needless to say that Keith felt his heart melt at the fact that he's been reunited with a couple of members from his family. It wasn't anything how he pictured it when he was little. But, he can't deny the fact that he's happy that he's here with all of his friends, he's got his older brother, his mother, and his older cousin with him, plus his cosmic space wolf. He knew that the next part of their journey just got a whole lot harder than he originally thought, but he knew that as long as he had his team, his family with him. Though he couldn't get rid of that little voice in the back of his head that kept nagging him. Could they really do this? Could they end the war? He wasn't sure, but he knew that he had to get those thoughts out of his head. He didn't need to doubt himself about this, it wouldn't end well for any of them. 

================================================================================ 

It wasn't that long after dinner when everyone had decided that now it would be a good idea for them to turn in for the night. Everyone had gone to their lions to go to sleep. At the beginning the idea was thrown around that they could just sleep outside. But, since they didn't know anything about what planet they were on or what sort of surprises that could be in store for them, they figured that it would be the safer option for everyone to sleep in the Lions(Spaceship for Axca). Lance took over the Red Lion, with Kattlenecker, Hunk went into Yellow though, he did offer Axca if she wanted to stay with one of them so that she wouldn't be alone, but she politely declined and went to her own ship to get away from them for some peace and quiet. But, Hunk did end up with Coran sleeping in the lion with him. Pidge, for the most part was by herself, she had Rover, and those little space floating things that she had adopted after Haggar had them all separated not that long after they had come to space. Keith, Krolia, Shiro, and that infernal wolf Kosmo, all took refuge in Black. And that just left Allura, Romelle, and the space mice alone in Blue. Though for once Allura wasn't complaining about the roommate arrangements. 

But just because she liked the arrangements this time doesn/t mean that she was able to sleep any better. Though she did try her hardest too, but no matter how many times she tossed and turned in her little cot in the Blue Lion, she was unable to get any sleep. It just seemed that she couldn't shut her brain off enough to let her body rest. Finally, after what felt like a couple of vargas or so, Allura had given up. She knew that she probably wouldn't get any sleep tonight. But she knew that she would be driven crazy if she had to spend the whole night cooped up in her Lion, and it wouldn't be fair to Romelle or the space mice, since they needed their rest and they could actually sleep. So the young princess decided that it would be best for everyone if she were to slip out and go for a walk. Even though they don't really know what all is on the planet that they're currently on, the perimeter sweep that Pidge did around their Lions indicated that they were all safe, so she was going to take it as such. And besides she wouldn't go that far away, and she'd be wearing her armor, and have all of her stuff with her in case she were to run into any danger. She also left a note before slipping out of the giant lion and into the night air. 

And, she was lucky that she had remembered to put on a jacket overtop of her armor before she left. For it was just a little bit cooler on the planet's surface than when it was earlier. Other than that though, the night was perfect in Allura's opinion. It was a clear night sky up above them, and Allura could make out all of the stars and what appeared to be three moons that were orbiting around the planet's atmosphere. There was a slight breeze whipping through the air that was making Allura's cheeks sting just a little bit, but she really didn't mind. She zipped up the coat that she was wearing and hugged her arms to her chest, hoping that if she wrapped them around herself tight enough that it would keep in some of the warmth. The coat helped a little bit, but overall she was still pretty cold. But Allura was determined to go and walk around some, and try to clear her head enough so that she could get some sleep before they head out in the morning. Though she supposed that part of the reason that she couldn't quite clear her mind at night had something to do with the load of guilt that she had been carrying around ever since her talk with Krolia when they first landed on the planet. And having remembered that Garlan mother's or carrier parents were very protective over their young, regardless of how old they were, she knew that she was probably screwed.  


Allura was surprised though to find out that Krolia wasn’t going to kill her(This time). She just wanted to talk to her, and tell her how her actions and her old, out-dated opinions have had a negative effect on her son. Though Allura will give her this, Krolia understood her a lot more than she thought and just didn’t want to talk so that she could scream at her for being a horrible person to her one and only child. The Blade agent too had her family stripped away and broken by the empire just like her. She told Allura that it was just her, her sister, and their grandmother for the longest time after their parents were killed. But it didn’t last long since her older sister had ran off and had gotten pregnant by a male of another species and fled to be with him. And to this very day she doesn’t know what happened to her. Though she does know that she’s no longer living but she won’t tell Allura how she knows that, and Allura wasn’t going to press anymore than she had too. But that’s all irrelevant now. 

They ended up talking about Keith, and what it was like for him growing up. Allura was appalled to hear some of the things about her fellow Paladin that she didn’t know about. And yes, before she found out that the younger was half Garlan, Keith was starting to be just a little bit more open with them all, though he was still a closed book, and it drove Allura nuts that even though they had a lot of mind meld exercises Keith was still shutting them out some. Though it wouldn’t surprise her one bit to know that Shiro knows his whole life story and then some. The two of them have always been very close with one another, and if Allura didn’t know any better she’d think that they were brothers. But, getting back to the topic at hand here. Keith had a horrible childhood growing up, and for the most part he didn’t have anyone to have his back after his father died until he met Shiro. And all that he was ever told was that he was an orphan, and a problem child that was better off dead than anything else. And Krolia confessed that Keith had confided in her that he had gotten better at thinking higher of himself when he first came to space, until he found out that he was Garlan. And then when Shiro disappeared he just went off the deep end. And Allura can’t help but feel the slightest bit guilty because she was part of the problem there. Though she had a feeling that Krolia was still holding back some, she figured that all of this was on a need to know basis, and kept her mouth shut. 

Which just leaves her where she is now. She can’t sleep because she knows that she has to seek Keith out so that she can apologize to him for her previous behavior. But, she's scared, she’s scared that after all of this time Keith would just reject her and never speak to her again. Though she can’t really blame him if he does, she did act pretty awful to him. But she had to take a chance on this, she owed it to all of them on the Team and everyone in the universe to apologize. After all everything depended on Voltron being able to work together to save the universe. And they couldn’t do that if their Paladins couldn't get along with each other. 

================================================================================ 

Lost in her own mind, Allura wasn’t really paying any attention to where she was going and tripped over a couple of rocks and branches strewn all over the ground. She let out a little squeak and landed with a loud ‘thump’! She was glad that it was just her out here. Not only was this not very becoming of a princess, she knows that the team would never let her live any of it down. She laid there for a few seconds and let the shock wear off of her before she tried to make an attempt at getting up. She figured that she wouldn’t have that much trouble since nothing really hurt to make her think that there was something wrong with her. But she got knocked down as soon as she tried to get up. And what shocked her even more was that she was being covered in… drool? Oh no... 

“Kosmo no! Bad boy, we don’t jump on people!” Keith said. Keith,.. Oh quiznack! When she meant that she wanted to apologize to him she didn’t mean now! But it seems that the universe has other plans in store for her. And the next thing that she knows the big wolf is lifted off of her, and Keith’s face comes into her vision. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry Allura, I didn’t know that anyone else would be out here, or else I would have kept a closer eye on him.” Keith said. “Here, let me help you up.” And Allura couldn’t help but to acknowledge the fact that when Keith pulled her up it kind of made her head spin. She tripped again when she got to her feet, but was thankful that this time Keith was there to keep her from tipping over. “Oh, don’t worry about it Keith.” Allura told him. “I mean, I didn’t expect to see anyone else out here tonight either.” She told him. “What are you doing out here?” She asked him. And that got a little laughed out of the Black Paladin. Funny, she’s never really heard Keith laugh before, she decided that she liked it and plans to make it to where he should do it more.  


“I could ask you the same thing Princess.” Keith told her jokingly, and the old Keith that Allura knew wasn’t one for jokes. Man, his time with Krolia on the Space Whale really did change him. “I’m kidding Allura.” Keith said when she just stared at him. “I was just out walking Kosmo, he wanted to go out.” Allura nodded her head numbly at him. “Are you okay Allura?” He asked her. And looking into his eyes, (Lance’s it right they do look like Indigo) and the scar on his face, all that she could think about was her conversation with Krolia earlier. “I’m sorry!” Allura blurted out. And she could tell that by her volume alone she startled Keith a little bit since he let go of her for a moment there and they both almost fell over. Luckily, he was able to catch her in time. “What?” Keith asked, confused. “Allura what are you talking about, you don’t have anything to apologize for?” Allura just sighed and shook her head. “No Keith I do.” Allura admitted. Keith just furrowed his brows at her, and moved to sit them both down on the ground. 

Once Keith had them both on the ground in a comfortable position, Kosmo came over and sat himself down in his lap. It took a few ticks before Keith would look at her. “What did you want to apologize for?” He asked her directly, but he wouldn’t make eye contact with her. “I want to apologize for the way that I treated you when we first found out that you’re half Garlan.” Allura said. “I was angry, and hurt at the Garla, and I let my emotions cloud my judgement.” Allura said. “I just used Zarkon as the stereotypical role model for all Garla, and I didn’t want myself to believe that there could be good Garlans out there.” She admitted. “And I was too proud to admit that my actions could cause any suffering for someone in the team, and for that I’m sorry.” Allura turned to look at Keith, and Keith was staring back at her in shock. Though Allura didn’t miss the tear running down his cheek and over his new scar. She reached out and wiped it away for him, and her touch made Keith jump just a little bit. “I…” Keith didn’t really know what to say. “And I perfectly understand if you never want to forgive me Keith, but I know that I was wrong and I can’t live with myself any longer without apologizing to you.” The princess told him. And Keith just sat there and stared at her. 

“My mom told you didn’t she?” Was the first thing that Keith was able to say to him. Allura just smiled at him. “She and I did have a nice little chat a while ago, but, I can assure you that I knew all of this anyway, but I was just letting my pride get in the way of acting on this.” Allura told him. “Your mother opened my eyes and gave me a quick kick to the how, you say ass to get me in the right direction.” And Keith chuckled at that. “My mom does have her own way with words.” Keith told her. “I do hope that you’re not mad that Krolia talked to me Keith, it was needed, and she didn’t tell me a whole lot.” Allura said. “But I am sorry about your father.” Allura told him. “When my parents died, I had Coran to lean back on.” She told him. “And even Krolia had her sister and grandmother to lean back on when their parents were killed.” She looked at Keith again with the most empathic look he’s ever seen her had in his life. “And for the longest time after your father died you had no one to lean back on.” Allura told him. “And me being how did Lance put this, oh yes! ‘A racist, self-centered bitch, with a stick shoved so far up her own ass that she can’t see the hurt she’s caused around her and doesn't really care to do so’.” Keith looked at her in shock. “Lance said that?” He asked her. Allura nodded. “Our Lance, Lance McClain, Blue, now Red Paladin, are you sure that this is the right person?” He asked her again. Allura just nodded again and laughed this time. “Yes, Lance really wasn’t that happy with me after you left for the Blade.” She admitted. “Though I can understand why now.”  


“I forgive you, you know.” Keith told her. “I forgave you awhile ago to be more exact.” He said. “ I learned that it was better to forgive and forget, since you’re my friend than to let it ruin our friendship.” He told her. “Thank you Keith I really appreciate it.” Allura told him. Keith just smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Though I still can’t believe that Lance cussed out the girl that he’s been after since we’ve gotten here, just for little old me.” He told her. “Give yourself some more credit Keith.” Allura told him. “And besides.” She said. “I don’t think Lance has been interested in me like that for a very long time now.” She told him. Keith just snorted at her. “Well, if it’s not you Allura, then I don’t know who it would be, because I know that Lance’s is acting like he’s in love with somebody.” Allura just laughed at him a little bit. “Oh, I’m sure that we’ll all find that out eventually.” Allura told him with a smile on her face. Now that she’s gotten her apology out of the way and Keith has forgiven her, her next mission is to get him and Lance together. Because she and the rest of the team are tired of those two idiots pinning after each other! But she’ll start on that tomorrow. She’s just happy that her and Keith can be friends again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! for those of you who wanted it, the apology finally happened. Now, if our two pining idiots could just get together now yeah?   
> Hoped that you liked it, have a nice day!   
> -N.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of Episode 3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! Sorry that it's just a tiny bit shorter than the last one, but it's just more a filler one than anything. Again, don't know when the next one will be, but hopefully not too long. Have a nice day everyone!   
> -N.

Chapter 3 

"It's been 3 years." Lance said quietly as he sat by himself in the pilot chair of the Red Lion. It was late at night on whatever planet that they had landed on to try and escape from Zethrid and Ezor. And Keith had told everyone to go to bed and get their rest a while ago, he supposes. Now, before you get ahead of yourself here, he actually did try and go to sleep, but he gave up after about 30 minutes of tossing and turning in his little cot. And with Kattlenecker sleeping not that far away from him he didn't want to disturb the poor space cow's sleep. So he moved into the main cockpit of the Lion and sat in the pilot's chair. He really had nothing else to do, and the weather was too cool and dismal for his taste. So he opted to stay inside in the warmth and comfort of his own Lion instead of going for a walk to clear his head. It's been 3 years that they have been gone, and they had already been in space a year at the very least when they had their showdown with Lotor. So that means he's been away from his home and his family for at least 4 years now, if not more. And Pidge said that it would take almost a year to get them back to Earth. So all in all almost 5 years in the very least would have passed by the time Lance steps foot on Earth next. And something about that didn't really sit well with him about that. He knows that he's not the only one who's been a little bit homesick since they started their journey through space, Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, and even Keith have said at least once that they missed Earth. Lance was surprised that Keith admitted that since he knew that the other Paladin didn't have that great of memories on Earth. But, there were still some good memories for him to be able to miss it, and his dad's grave is still there too, so Lance can understand him missing it. 

And Lance knows that he's been hit harder by all of this than the rest of the team has, except for Allura and Coran. Their home, home planet, and family have been gone for a long while now. And before Keith brought back Romelle and they found out that the Alteans are still out there all that they had left were each other. Majority or Pidge's family were already lost out here in space, which was part of the reason she's out here in the first place. Lance knew that both Shiro and Hunk had their own families back on Earth, but Shiro didn't really talk to his family. And even though he was just about as close to his family as Lance was to his own, he didn't seem to be that concerned about all of it as Lance was. Which was really making him feel like he was blowing all of this way out of proportion on his end. That was when Lance had to take a moment to step back and reevaluate his own thoughts. He knew that he was being too hard on himself, and that if he continued to go down this path then things wouldn't end well for him. He had to think back to what his mother used to tell him when he was little and he would get upset by his emotions. She would always tell him that his reactions were ok, as long as he thought that they were okay. 'Everyone reacts to the same thing differently Lance.' She would always tell him. And it always worked like a charm even to this day to get him to calm down. Even now when he's an almost full grown adult it still does the trick to calm him down. 

Groaning slightly to himself, Lance moved in the pilot's chair to try and crack his back. It felt good to have his spine pop and loose it up a bit. He glanced out Red's eyes and saw that it was still very much night on this planet. Lance sighed to himself and resigned himself for another sleepless night of his own. Though it wasn't anything that Lance wasn't used to by now, he's always had trouble sleeping ever since they've gotten to space. Though he's never had that great of a track record when it came sleeping away from home. It took him forever to be able to sleep when he was at the Garrison, and the only way that was made possible was that his older sister Veronica and Hunk were there with him. Now, he still has Hunk, but he still has a hard time trying to get some rest. It was part of the reason that he had such a complicated skin care routine to try and help him sleep. If Lance was being honest here, and he was really trying to, the best night's sleep that he has ever had in space, was that little window of time right before they found Shiro the first time that he and Keith had slept together.(Not like that, get your mind out of the gutter.) Lance doesn't know what it was about, but sleeping side by side with Keith just let all of the tension release from his body, and Lance loved it so much. But he was never ever going to admit it to himself, or anyone in general. He just couldn't handle it at the moment.  


Another thing that had been troubling Lance for a while now, was that he had died. There just wasn't any other way to put it. He had ended up dying trying to protect Allura from that blast when they were trying to restart the Omega Shield all of those months ago. Even though Allura was able to revive him and he's alive and well now, Lance still couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with him. He's still felt off even after all of these months, and no matter how many times he goes over it in his head, he still can't figure out what was wrong with him. Though he knows that it probably isn't healthy to be thinking about this as much as he was, but it was something that he just couldn't stop himself from doing it. Realizing that if he didn't have anything to do with his hands in like the next 30 seconds he would go crazy. So he got up and went into one of the storage compartments in the back of Red's cockpit, and started digging through it. It took him a couple of more minutes than he would have liked. He found it eventually, and let out a little 'Ah-ha!' when he finally found what he wanted to. He knew that he probably had a big stupid smile on his face. The object that he's spent the past 5 minutes scavenging for, was a little book. Not just any book though, a sketch book, and no it wasn't Lance's since he couldn't draw to save his life. No, the sketch book wasn't his,... it was Keith's sketch book. 

Now, at this point you're all probably wondering why he has Keith's sketch book with him. Well,.. That's a pretty long story. It all started off when Keith left for the Blade of Marmora. It wasn't even a full hour after their fellow Paladin had left when Lance couldn't take it anymore. You can't really blame him though, he had just realized that his feelings for his friend and fellow Paladin were more than just platonic. And he was kicking himself for not working up the courage to go and confess to the other like a man that he thought that he was. So, he had decided to go and do the next best thing, which was go sneaking through Keith's room to see it one last time, at least that was what he told himself.(He went to see the room more than once in the time before Keith came back and they lost the Castle of Lions.) He found the book on his first night in Keith's room, he had flopped down on top of the old, stiff mattress that Lance was pretty sure that Keith had never really used. (Knowing more about Keith's self-destructive habits, it wouldn't surprise him if Keith spent more time in any other part of the Castle, than his own bedroom.) But when he landed, the mattress seemed harder than he had remembered it. So Lance went digging, and when he lifted up the mattress to see what was underneath it, he found the sketch book. 

At first Lance was confused, he didn't really know of anyone on the ship that drew. He knew that Hunk and Pidge could draw out blueprints and stuff like that, along with Coran. So he was really puzzled as to why Keith had a sketch book. And he took the chance of opening it to see what was inside of it. By the first page, Lance was blown away to say the least. The sketch that he found was beautiful and it was like nothing that he had ever seen before. Though he didn't know that much about art, he was more of a music and dance kind of guy. So what he knew about art wasn't a whole lot, but he knew that what he saw was really a great work of art. The first picture that he saw was an image of a Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree. Being a boy from Cuba, Lance had never seen something like that before. But he had seen it in a book about Samurais that he had read when he was 8. And him seeing it now, he thought that it was absolutely breathtaking. And Lance was hooked.  


Lance spent the next hour at least flipping through the pages of what he came to find out was Keith's sketch book. He noticed it when he saw a little signature in the bottom corner and recognized Keith's mess of neat and messy handwriting. All that he saw was the initials K.A.K. He knew that the K's stood for Keith and Kogane, but he didn't know what the middle initial stood for. In the back of his mind Lance thought about asking Keith what the A stood for in his middle name whenever, or if he ever came back. Lance chose not to go down that train of thought anymore though. But one thing was for sure, he knew that the more that he looked through the book, the more calm that he felt. And not to mention the weird feeling of some sort of connection that he felt with Keith. And yes, he did kind of realize that what he was doing was sort of an invasion of privacy and all, but he just couldn't put the book down. Even now he takes it out whenever he feels down or upset. From everytime that he and Clone Shiro got into it, to his homesickness, whenever he missed Keith, and especially the time he died. So, he made sure that he had it with him when they evacuated the Castle. Lance knows that he has to give this back to Keith eventually, even if the other doesn't remember that he left it there. But, he'd do that later, sometime, he'd prefer never, but he knew that his Mama would be ashamed of him if he didn't. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that he knew if he gave the book back then he would have to confront and most likely confess his feelings to Keith. And he was more than terrified on how that was going to go down. 

================================================================================ 

After he little midnight stroll and chat with Keith, Allura has never felt better in her whole entire life. She had finally apologized and mended the bridge with her and Keith. The princess felt so much better not only about herself, but her people skills at will. Another thing that she's gotten out of this, is that she's got a plain forming in her head. She knows that this is probably crazy, and Coran and both of her parents if they were still alive would call her crazy, and be appalled for what she was about to do, but she didn't care. She knew that this plan would benefit her friends more and that was something that she wanted, no she needed to do for them. After all, Keith and Lance deserved happiness just as much as everyone else in the universe right? Well, Allura didn't care, she thought that they deserved it, so that was what they were going to get, regardless of what the universe thought. 

So, she had decided to make her own plan and put it into action as soon as possible. And as soon as possible ment as soon as she stepped out onto the ground from the Blue Lion. Though she was going to wait until after they sent Axca off. Even though she knew that Keith and her were kind of close, she still didn't know all that much about her, and wanted to spill her guts to the rest of the Paladins, and their companions. It didn't take that long for all of them to wake up and meander around their campsite for a couple of dobashes. Hunk tried to get Axca to stay for breakfast, but she declined. She told them that she had an important meeting to get to, so she had to leave. They all said their goodbyes and before they knew it Axca's was gone off into the planet's atmosphere. Once they could no longer see her ship, Hunk turned back to the rest of them and said that he was going to start making breakfast for them all, but he needed firewood. And of course, Allura had volunteered Keith and Lance to do the job. Both of them seemed surprised that they had been volunteered for the job, but neither of them complained or tried to get out of it so Allura took this as a success. And she was going to talk to the rest of their team as soon as those two were out of ear shot.  


Once Allura knew that Keith and Lance were out of earshot, she put the first part of her plan into action. She made quick work of getting everyone gathered up together so she could explain what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it. It only took her about 30 ticks to get everyone rounded up around their campfire. All of them had different degrees of confusion written across their faces. But none of it deterred her at all and she went for it as soon as everyone sat down. "Okay." Allura said at first. "I know that all of you are probably wondering why I gathered you all here today, especially when I have just sent Lance and Keith off on an errand." Allura told them. "Yes, that would be a good place to start off with Allura." Pidge butted in. "Well, you see, the reasoning that I have for bringing you all here today is actually about Keith and Lance." She told them. "What is it exactly Princess?" Shiro asked her. "I want to get the two of them together!" The princess shouted in excitement. Everyone was stunned at that statement. 

"You want to what?!" Hunk exclaimed. He was the first person to actually show a reaction to her statement. "What?!" Romelle shouted not that long after him. And that was when all Hell broke loose. Everyone just started talking over each other about this and that, that it had gotten so bad that Allura couldn't understand a single word that anyone was saying. It didn't take that long before she couldn't take it anymore and decided to put an end to it all. "ENOUGH!" Allura shouted. All of them shut up after that. "Now, I know that this may or may not be a surprise for some of you, but I have come to the decision that it's about high time that our two friends finally get their shot at happiness." Allura said. "So what are you saying that we do?" Krolia asked. "We meddle in my son's and one of our friend's love-lives." Even though Krolia didn't seem that happy about it, Allura was determined not to back down to her this time. "I know that we're meddling, and everything, but I've spent the past decapheob or so, watching two of my closest friends how you say pine after each other." Allura told them. "I can see that they had feelings for each other, and I know that both of them are such good people and don't you think that they deserve to be happy?" She questioned them.  


"I know from mine and Keith's time in the abyss that there are a good chance that things work out in a certain way that will be beneficial for all of us." Krolia said. "But I'm going to refrain from going into detail so that I don't squander their chances any." She told them. "But I can assure you all that Keith is very fond of Lance and that he is very fond of Keith is he not?" She asked them. "I'm not going to even ask how you know that." Hunk said. "But I can tell you that you are like a 1000% right." He told him. "Lance has had one of the biggest crushes on Keith since our early Garrison days." He said. "Lance will kill me if he ever finds out that I told you guys this, but Keith was the one who made him realize that he was bisexual." Hunk said. And that made everybody's eye widen. "Wow." Pidge said. "I know that I shouldn't be that surprised, but somehow I still am." She said. And everyone just nodded their heads in agreement. "So then you'll agree to help me?" Allura asked. Everyone turned and looked at each other all with contemplation. Allura only had to wait for a few moments before everyone answered her. "Yes!" They all said in unison and that was all that she needed to put her plan into action. "Oh, this is just splendid Princess!" Coran stated. "I've haven't been involved in something like this since I was a young lad and your mother and I were trying to get together these dignitaries from the planet Roarchatte, now this wasn't as easy as one might seem..." It didn't take a genius to see that Coran was on board with the whole thing. 

================================================================================ 

Meanwhile, while the rest of them were busy scheming up a plan.....  


Lance and Keith had gone off into the words of the unknown planet that they were currently camped out on to try and find some firewood for their fire so that Hunk could cook them something to eat for Breakfast. After that the plan was to try and come up with a more solid plan than what they had going on now. Lance really didn’t know what they were going to do, but if he had any confidence in his team, which he does then he knows that they’ll figure out something to get them out of this mess that they’re in. Especially if Keith’s in charge, Lance knows that the first time around that his friend was in charge they had some difficulties with his leadership, and all of them used to but heads a lot. But Lance knows when to give credit when and where the credit was due. Keith was better at battle strategy, and planning than most people thought that he was. His plans that he had come up with beforehand with Allura were almost always good, and in the worst case scenario he can think fast enough on his feet to change it and get them all out safely. He just has, or had trouble communicating these plans from his head to other people and that's when things get tricky. 

Other than that, Lance would say that Keith was a very good leader, even before he left to join the Blade and spent those two years on the space whale. One thing that Lance knew for certain about Keith now was that he cared very deeply for all of them, and even the people that they have helped in their travels through space. He is just very socially awkward and has a very hard time showing his emotions. He’s almost nothing like Lance who seems to always wear his emotions on his sleeves, on display for anyone and everyone to see. He muses that was probably part of the reason that they always used to butt heads with one another in the beginning. But, now was a different time for them all. Not only were they in a different stage in the war, they have also grown and matured a lot over the year, year and a half-ish that they’ve been out here in space. Even though technically, Keith’s older now, at least biologically, they’re not little kids any more. They’re grown adult males now, not two spunky, bitchy teenagers whose eyes and imagination were way larger than the rest of them and the reality of things. Which is part of the reason that Lance wants to make things seem different now. Keith and him were friends, or at least that’s what Lance thought and by golly he was going to do his best to make sure that Keith understood that part ten-fold. Even though Keith has been gone for a while, Lance hasn’t forgotten all of the late night talks and breakdowns that they’ve shared together. And he most certainly has not forgotten about Keith’s suicide attempt at Naxela. No, this time was going to be way, way different. 

“So how have you been?” Lance asked him. He made it a total of about probably 10 to 15 minutes at the most. He guesses that at least since he and Keith have been walking around for long enough to get a pretty good distance away from the rest of the group. And even though Lance isn’t as bad as he was when he was younger about talking to fill up the silence because he couldn’t stand it, but still the silence was starting to get on his nerves. Keith didn’t say anything to him at first, just tilted his head in acknowledgement. At first Lance thought that Keith wasn’t going to say anything and just blow him off again like he did when he first came back, but surprisingly, he did. “Uh,.. I’m okay I guess..” Keith told him hesitantly. “How are you doing Lance?” He asked him. And Lance had to use all the self-control that he possessed to not just jump over and pounce on the other male for actually trying to have a conversation with him of his own free-will. “I’m doing good, I’m doing good.” Lance said. “Thanks for asking.” Keith nodded his head in agreement and bent down to pick up another piece of firewood. Yeah, that’s right, they were out here to get more firewood for camp, focus Lance! 

Lance quickly got out of his head and noticed that Keith had walked a little ways over from him to go and pick up some more twigs that he had found laying on the ground. Lance didn’t think anything of it at the moment, and was just going to go and look for some in the other direction when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head, ready for it to be some sort of enemy threat, but he relaxed a little bit when he just saw that it was Keith. He was going to turn his back on him yet again, but he saw Keith sway a little bit on the spot. That worried the Red Paladin for a moment there, and he was in the process of walking over to ask Keith if he was okay when he saw his friend take a step to try and balance himself out when Keith stepped in a whole and his ankle rolled and he went down with it, hard, his pile of twigs went flying everywhere and rolled a couple of feet. “Keith!” Lance called out as he dropped his pile of twigs and went running after his friend. Needless to say that he was really worried about him. 

Lance dashed over to make sure that Keith was okay. It took Lance no time at all to get to Keith, when he got there, Lance dropped down to his knees to make sure that he was alright. Keith just groaned and rubbed at his head when Lance got there. “Keith, are you okay dude?” Lance asked him borderline on being hysterical. He didn’t know what was wrong, Keith seeme fine a couple of seconds ago, he didn’t know what could be wrong with him. He was busy contemplating shaking Keith to see if he could figure it out that way, when he felt someone grab onto his hand. “Keith?” Lance asked as he came back to reality. Keith grunted in response, and turned his head to look at him. And Lance didn’t fail to notice how Keith’s eyes were squinted up together, and that he had a grimace on his face that made him look like he was in pain. “What’s wrong?” Lance asked him. “Are you hurt, what happened?” Lance said as he started firing off questions rapidly. “I’m fine Lance.” Keith told him after a couple of beats of silence. “I just tripped.” And somehow Lance was a little bit hesitant to believe that. “Are you sure, I saw you swaying before you went down?” Lance asked him. And it was in that moment that Keith knew he was screwed. 

============================================================================= 

Today really just hasn’t been Keith’s day. After all of the excitement of yesterday, his mind just wouldn’t tire out, he couldn’t sleep that night, so he had decided to take a walk to try and clear his head. It really didn’t do that much for him though, but he didn’t think of it as a complete loss. He ran into Allura and the two of them talked, and made up, and decided that they were going to start over and become the friends that they were at the beginning of all of this again. When he went back to Black that night, looking at the sky, he guessed that they only had about 2-4 hours until daybreak, and he figured that he might as well try to sleep some. He ended up sleeping for like an hour at least. Keith ended up having a nightmare, that he couldn’t really remember, but it was still vivid enough in his mind for him to feel the fear from it. And needless to say that he was up the rest of the night. He made sure to be out of the Black Lion, and took Kosmo with him so that he could avoid questions from his mother and brother. What he didn’t account for was to get volunteered to go get firewood with Lance.  


Since he didn’t sleep that well the night before, he was exhausted, and he was having trouble concentrating because of the migraine. So all in all, Keith really wasn’t feeling that well, and he should probably have been resting back at their camp. But he didn’t want to admit that anything was wrong and have everyone worry about him. After all they have way more important things to do like saving the universe, than to worry about Keith and his little headache. So, he was very keen on keeping all of this underwraps, and was determined to do so by any means. But one thing that Keith didn’t count on was being paired with Lance for this little errand. Even after all of this time apart, Keith and Lance are still kind of close with each other, and yet at the same time they’re complete strangers. But Keith still wouldn’t put it past Lance to be able to figure out something was wrong with him. Another thing that he didn’t count on was getting hit with a dizzy spell, and end up tripping over a tree branch. 

Keith was really starting to kick himself when once he stopped rolling on the ground, he could hear Lance drop all of the wood that he collected and came running over to him. This was the whole situation that he was trying to avoid in the first place. He’s starting to think that maybe this is the universe’s way of punishing him for something that he did in a past life or something. Like the old saying goes, Karma’s a real bitch. After the initial shock finally wore off, the pain settled in. Along with the long lists of other ailments that he’s currently suffering from, he’s now bruised from head to toe, and he’s pretty sure that he’s twisted his ankle so he doesn’t really know what’s wrong with that. Great, just great.  


“Keith, Keith can you hear me?” Lance’s voice floated to him from right above him. Keith rolled his head over to try and get a better look at Lance. Keith’s also pretty sure that he hit his head or something, because when he opened his eyes his head hurt a whole lot more than it did earlier this morning. “Mmm.. I can hear you Lance..” Keith said, and he’s pretty sure that he said that without slurring too badly. “Okay,.. Okay, now,..um, well how do you feel?” Lance asked him, and then quickly backtracked. “Nevermind that’s a stupid question, how about what hurts then, yeah that sounds better?” “Is that supposed to be a statement or a question?” Keith asked him dryly. “Well, at least I know that you’re humor’s still intact.” Lance said. “Now, how about you give me something else to go on?” Keith just sighed and rolled his eyes, he really didn’t want to be doing this. He just wanted to go back to his lion and sleep for a couple of movements. “I’m pretty sure that I twisted my ankle or something because it hurts more than the rest of my body.”Keith said. “The rest of me is just bruised pretty badly, and I’m pretty sure that I have a migraine that got aggravated when I hit my head.” Keith told him. “But other than that, nothing else is wrong with me.” In that moment, Lance had to hold himself back from trying to strangle the guy. 

“So let me get this straight.” Lance told him. “More likely than not, you’re probably getting sick, and instead of staying back and resting you went out to do stuff so no one would think anything was wrong and it backfired on you?” “Yes, do you really have to point it out and rub it in my face?” Keith asked him slightly agitated. “No, I’m not doing anything of the sort, I’m just stating the obvious so that I can figure out a plan on how to get us back.” Lance refuted. Keith sighed and had to stop himself from going and rolling his eyes at the Red Paladin. “We still need firewood.” Keith told him. “Really?” Lance asked him. “You faint, trip, and go rolling down a hill that leaves you bruised and beaten and you’re more concerned about the firewood?” Lance asked him. And he was really having to hold himself back so he doesn’t go and kill their leader. “What? That’s what we were sent out here for in the first place.” Keith told him. And it was then that it dawned on him yet again that the man that he’s been secretly in love with for years has absolutely zero self-preservation skills whatsoever. Lance can just feel his blood pressure rise and the veins try to pop out of his head.

But Lance had refrained from trying to choke out Keith. Instead he reached out and felt Keith’s forehead. And even though Lance had his Paladin gloves on, he was still able to tell that Keith seemed to be running a fever. Great, they now have a sick, stubborn leader. It was going to be fun trying to get Keith back to camp without too much hassle. “What are you doing?” Keith asked him. “Feeling for a fever, which by the way you have.” Lance told him. “No, I don't, your hands are just cold.” Keith told him. “Keith I have my gloves on.” Lance told him. “I hate to break it to you Samurai, but you’re sick.” Keith just closed his eyes and groaned. “Well I guess that this is just as good of a time as any to tell you that I’m like 80% sure that I’m going to puke.” Keith told him. And he then rolled over and away from Lance(thankfully) and threw up. “Keith!” Lance yelled in a panic. This was so going to be a whole lot harder than he actually thought it would be. 

============================================================================ 

Once Keith was done, he rolled back over to face Lance. Now that Lance could get a good look at his face again, he could see how pale and ashen Keith’s face was. And yes, Lance knows that naturally Keith is pretty pale complected, but this is a whole other level. “Are you done dude?” Lance asked him. Keith just closed his eyes and hummed, which Lance is taking as a yes. “Do you think that you can stand up and walk or do I have to carry you?” Lance asked him again. Keith just groaned and threw one arm over his eyes, and the other one went to his stomach. Lance took that as a ‘no’ answer. So that just left Lance to try and carry Keith home instead. But he still has to figure out how to take the firewood with them, or else Keith was going to have his head. Things were just starting to get interesting for the two of them. 

Luckily, Lance was able to work it to where he got both Keith and the firewood back to their base camp. When they first got back, everyone rushed over to them to make sure that they were all okay, and tried to figure out what was happening. Lance then went and explained to all of them what had happened, and inadvertently had ratted Keith out for being sick and not telling anyone. Hunk and Romelle took the firewood out of Keith’s arms, and headed over to the fire pit that they made last night. Krolia, Coran, and Shiro had Lance carry Keith inot the Black Lion so that they could check him out and let him get some rest. Where, it was deemed, that Keith was bruised, had a sprained ankle, possibly a concussion, a migraine, and a fever of 101 degrees Fairhenheit. Which meant that things are going to get a whole lot more fun around here. If only Lance knew the half of what was about to come to them.  



	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Klance moments that we should have gotten from Episode 4 that we didn't, plus some extra scenes thrown into the mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next update, enjoy! I don't know when the next one will be, but I hope that you guys can enjoy this one until then. Have a nice day and stay safe!   
> -N.

Chapter 4

**_"I just don't want to be stuck here for eternity with Lance."_ **

Keith really wanted to kick himself, or jump out the nearest airlock, since there were no dark holes for him to go and hide in for the rest of his life. He'd even let Lance shove him into a wormhole and a quiznack, but he still thinks that there's nothing that he could do to get away from this one. When Bob had him explain why he voted for Lance to go free, he really didn't know what to say. He could think of almost a million reasons off the top of his head why Lance should have gone free. From how kind and generous he is, to how thoughtful and observant. Lance is so attentive and kind to everyone he meets, and is always willing to lend a helping hand to those who need it. He's also so compassionate and caring, and he's good at empathy and all that jazz. At least, he's a whole lot better at it than Keith is. He wouldn't be surprised if Lance could somehow figure out how to sweet talk the whole entire universe into getting along with each other anymore. But when it came to his turn, he just couldn't function. It was like his brain was like 'Hey, let's make yourself look like a complete and utter idiot and probably offend your crush in the process, yeah!' And that was exactly what he did. And he wanted to kill himself for it. 

Keith was so glad when they were finally able to get out of there though. At first when they all woke back up in their respective lions, Keith thought that he was having some weird kind of fever dream. After all, not that long after they had escaped Zethrid and Ezor, not only did Keith fall and roll his ankle when him and Lance were looking for firewood, he's sick now too. Reluctantly, everyone had packed up their stuff once Coran had checked him over and they headed off to start their journey home, but Keith was determined that they were going to get home in time to stop the Garla from hurting anyone else. But that didn't mean that anything was easier though. Before Bob had taken them, Keith had spent the past half hour or so throwing up into a random bucket that his mother had found in the Black Lion and held it under his head. And Shiro was buzzing around in the background trying to keep him calm while not going into hysterics himself. Keith only just fallen asleep when he had woken up into that nightmare that was 'Garffle, Waffle, Snick!' For a hot second there, Keith just thought that the whole experience was a fever dream that he could just forget it ever happened. But sadly, that wasn't the case. All five of them had that same dream, or weird hero-testing experience that Coran was trying to tell them about. Which meant that more likely than not Lance remembered everything that he had said to him during that game show nightmare, and Keith really wished that his mom would just go ahead and put him out of his misery already so that he wouldn't have to deal with this social Hell. But he couldn't get her to do it. 

============================================================================== 

"How are you feeling Keith?" Krolia asked him. She was walking up to Black's pilot chair that Keith was currently sitting in. He had given up on lying down even though he still felt like crap. He just needed something to do that would keep him from going crazy. And him going over that whole Bob experience was not helping him in the slightest. Keith still felt complete and utter crap, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from doing his job. "I'm okay Mom." Keith said. He was sitting up in his pilot's chair and was wrapped up in a spare blanket that Shiro had found in one of the closets. "Are you sure?" Shiro asked as he came up behind the two of them. And Keith knew that he better put on a good act or else Shiro will figure it out and that would be the end of it all. He just had to say that he was okay until it actually happened. Keith just hoped that he was able to last that long though.  


"Yes," Keith told him. "I'm fine Shiro, if anything, I'm just a little tired is all." He said. Above his head Krolia and Shiro gave each other knowing looks, both of them knew that Keith wasn't doing as fine as he said that he was, but that he was just too stubborn to do anything about it. And they both wondered how Keith thought that he was fooling any of them, with how obvious it was that he wasn't feeling a 100%. Another thing that both of them knew was that the more that they pushed him, even after his time on the space whale, the more Keith would withdraw from them because of it. The only and best thing that they could do was just to let Keith come to them and let them in. But until then the only thing that they could do was to just let him be and keep a very close eye on him to make sure that things don't get too out of hand. They both just hoped that things wouldn't get that bad. 

When they finally turned their attention back to Keith, they saw that the Black Paladin had fallen asleep sitting up in the pilot's chair(again). He had been doing that a lot ever since he's gotten sick, and at this point they've worked it down to a system. Krolia and Shiro, along with Kosmo move him back to his cot in the back of the Lion with the rest of theirs were. They had decided not to change Lion mates until after Keith gets better, to try and stop anyone else from getting it. At least with this way, the only people that they have to worry about getting sick are Krolia and Shiro, and maybe Kosmo. But for the most part they have Keith contianted and isolated from the rest of the Paladins, except for their communication monitors. It didn't take that long for Krolia to pick Keith up and move him back to his cot. They were lucky that it was so easy to have the Lions go on autopilot or else they would be in big trouble. When Krolia had tucked Keith in, and made sure that he had everything that he would need in case he woke up and was sick. Before she left to go back and check on Shiro, she bent down and placed a kiss on her son's forehead, and brushed back his bangs from his face one last time. Kosmo hopped up onto the bed and curled himself around Keith to try and keep him warm, and protect him. Krolia smiled softly to herself at the scene and walked back out.  


" Is he asleep?" Shiro asked quietly as Krolia walked back over to him. Krolia hummed before responding more verbally. "Yes, he seemed to be asleep when I left him, Kosmo was curled up in a ball on top of him." She told him. "He should be out for a couple of vargas in the very least, and Kosmo would alert us if something goes wrong." Shiro just nodded his head in understanding. And that just left the two of them alone to their own devices for a little while. Though neither one of them were that comfortable in the other's present. Though it is understandable, they're pretty much complete strangers to each other still and the only common thread that they have between each other is currently out cold with a bad case of the space flu or something of the like. And both Shiro and Kroila do want to get to know each other better since they both love Keith like he's their own blood(Which in Krolia's case is true) and they both know that Keith wants them to get along with each other since he considers them some of the only family that he has left. (Shiro does not know about Axca, and Shiro doesn't know how well Keith described his relationships with the others to his mother.) And what better time than the present to go and bond now! 

"I don't think that I have ever thanked you properly Takashi." Krolia said out of the blue. Shiro jumped a little bit at the sound of her voice, he turned and looked at her with a look of confusion on his face. What was Krolia thanking him for? "Um,.. thank you,.. I guess, but if I'm being perfectly honest here, and I do hope that I'm not being rude in any way, but why are you thanking me?" Shiro asked her. "I'm not really sure why or what you're taking me for." Krolia just looked at him with a little sad smile on her face. "During our time on the space whale, in the Quantum Abyss, Keith talked about Team Voltron and his life before space." Krolia told him. "So I know **everything** about his life before he came into space." She told him. "And he talked about 2 people the most during our time there." Krolia said. "And as you know one of those people was your Red Paladin Lance, and the other one was you." She explained. "I want to thank you for taking care of and raising my son while you could, since his father and I couldn't do it ourselves." And that hit Shiro hard.  


Shiro knew that he and Keith were very close with one another. They were like Lance and Hunk close, and Shiro had always thought of Keith as the little brother that he always wanted but never had. And he knew that Keith looked up to him as more of a mentor, and that he thought of him as a brother too. But he never thought that Keith respected him that much, to where in being trapped on a cosmic being for 2 years he spends most of the time telling his long lost mother about him. He was touched about that, and it made his heart melt hearing this information. "You're very welcome then Krolia." Shiro said. "It was my pleasure." He told her. "I don't regret taking Keith in under my wing and I'd do it again in a heartbeat." And he saw the large smile on her face at that. "Keith talked about you too, you know." Shiro told her. "Of course, this was before he knew you were still out there and had met you and everything." He explained to her. Krolia nodded her head in understanding and motioned for him to move on. "He always wondered what happened to you, Keith told me that when he was little his father, Russell would just give him very vague explanations about where you were and told him that you would come back one day when you knew that you could." Shiro told her. "I don't know if you know this or not and I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything but I could tell that Keith blamed himself for you leaving." He informed her. "He used to tell me that he always wondered what he did that was so bad that you couldn't stick around to be with them, and I knew that he was heartbroken over it." "I wished that I could have stayed with them, I really did." Krolia answered him. "But, I wasn't the only Garlam that had found their way to Earth, my rescue team had come and had found the Blue Lion." She told him. "Russell and I were able to stop them but he had gotten hurt in the process, I knew then and there that it wasn't safe for them to have me there with them." Krolia told him. "I left to protect them, to try and Keith them save, I regret leaving the way that I did, and even though I know that it was the right thing to do at the time, but it still kills me inside that I left with the fact that I would never see my only son or the my that I loved ever again." She told him. And if Shiro could see the tears building in her eyes, then he didn't comment on it. "And when I saw Keith again for the first time I knew he was mine, I thought that maybe after all of this we could be a family again, of course after I ripped into his father for letting him come out here, but then..."She trailed off. "Then Keith told me how Russell died on the job, and I just... I'm so sorry, you don't need to see me cry." Shiro shook his head at ther. "No, no, don't mind me, Krolia, you have every right to be upset about this." He told her. Krolia looked at him and smiled through her tears, and Shiro will deny the fact that he might have started crying along with her. "Thank you Shiro, really I mean it, for everything." Krolia told him. "It's no problem at all Krolia." He told her. "I'm just so glad that Keith finally found you." 

================================================================================ 

"That Bob guy was a complete and utter jerk! Don't you dare take anything that he ever said to heart Lance!" Hunk said from his side of their 3 way communication chat that they had going on. After they had escaped from Bob, and the "Game Show from Hell" as Pidge liked to call it, the three of them decided to call each other and talk for a little bit. It had been a while since the three of them were able to sit down and talk to each other like that. "Yeah Lance, Bob was a real dick, even if he's supposed to be some sort of cosmic being who deems heroes worthy or not to save the universe and I'm glad that I went after him with a golf club." Pidge said from her end. Lance just snorted at that comment. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it, I do." He told him, shaking his head fondly. "And I know you Pidge you just wanted an excuse to hit someone with a golf club." He told her. "Agree to disagree on that one my friend." Pidge retorted back. And this was way Lance loved his friends so much, for moments like these. 

“Thanks guys.” Lance told them after a couple of beats. “I’m not going to lie to the both of you and say that some of the stuff that Bob said to me today didn’t hit a nerve.” Lance confessed to them. “But I do know not to believe in any of what he said, because I have you guys to help me keep my head on straight.” “Oh Lance,” Hunk said, and Lance could tell that he was about 5 seconds away from bursting into tears over this. “That’s the nicest thing that you’ve ever said to me buddy!” Lance couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s antics, and this was part of the reason why he loved his best friend so much. “Oh, don’t start going soft on us now Hunk.” Pidge told him. “Just because you don’t get emotional over things, doesn’t mean that I can’t!” Hunk argued back. And the two of them were off in their own world bickering with each other. And Lance just sat back in his chair and watched his two friends with a fondness on his face. 

After about 15 minutes or so of the two of them going at it, Lance decided that it was probably best to stop them now before things escalated. “Okay guys, enough, it’s time for a topic change.” Lance told them. It didn’t take that much for the two of them to stop arguing with each other and go onto another topic. But the topic that they went to made Lance wish that he had never opened his mouth and said anything about it. “Okay then Loverboy, we’ll change the topic for you.” Pidge told him. And Lance should have known then and there that he was doomed. “So, Keith’s still been pretty sick right?” Pidge asked out loud. And Hunk had seemed to catch on to whatever it is that she’s doing. “Yeah, I hope he’s okay, from what little we’ve seen of him, it looks like it’s all that the guy can do to remain somewhat upright.” He said. “Yeah, I’m worried too, in all the time that I have known Keith, I’ve never seen him like this before.” Lance said. “It makes me really worried that he’s still not feeling well, I mean I know that it can take more than a day to get over something, but I can’t help but worry about him.” Lance told them. “I mean what if what he has is more dangerous to Garlans than it is to humans, and Keith’s suffering more because he’s half. Or what if it’s a Garlan disease and it’s going to kill him but we won’t know until it’s too late?!” “Don’t stress yourself out about all of this Lance, everything’s going to be okay.” Hunk told him. “And besides, it’s Keith, you know that guy’s so stubborn about everything.” Hunk said. “He won’t leave us no matter what’s wrong with him.” “Yeah, you’re worrying for nothing Loverboy, your boyfriend’s going to be just fine.” Pidge said. And that was when all Hell broke loose in their chat. 

Lance was taking a drink of water from his water pouch when Pidge was talking. When it registered in his mind that she had called Keith his boyfriend, Lance did the only thing that he found acceptable. He choked on his pouch as he was taking a sip from it. After choking and spitting out his water all over himself, and the dashboard of the Red Lion, Lance did the only logical thing that he could think of. “What?!” Lance asked when he was able to take a breath back in. “Keith’s not my boyfriend!” Lance told her. “We’re friends, just friends, and can’t I be worried about my friend, and Leader of my team Pidge?” He asked her. And Pidge in her own Pidge fashion answered him the only way that she knew that she could. “Well yeah, you can, but I’m just saying you’re freaking out more because you want to bone Keith at the same time.” She said. Lance’s face was redder than his Lion at this point. “What?!” He yelled again. “I do not want to bone Keith okay!” Lance told him. “Keith is my friend, just like you and Hunk and the rest of the team, and I am concerned for his well-being.” He explained to them. “I in no way want to bone, or do anything in a sexual manner with him, got me.” iIdge and Hunk nodded their heads at him. “Good.” Lance told them. “Now, I’m tired so I’m going to go to bed, goodnight guys.” Lance said as he signed off. “Goodnight Lance.” Pidge and Hunk said in unison. 

Once they were sure that Lance was no longer on the line, Pidge switched it over to where it was just the two of them on it. “He’s in denial isn’t he?” Pidge asked him. “Yep.” Hunk said. “He’s in denial big time.” He told her. “Thought so.” Pidge said. “How much do you want to bet that he’s going to try and call Keith instead of going to bed to check on him?” She asked him. “Oh, most definitely. I bet that Lance will be up half the night talking to Keith since he knows that Keith has a lot of trouble sleeping when he’s ill, and Lance can’t sleep when he’s worried about anything.” He told her. “Well, that’s all I got for tonight, see tomorrow Hunk.” Pidge said as she signed off. “Alright, goodnight Pidge, see you tomorrow.” Hunk said as he too signed off and went to sleep himself.

================================================================================ 

Meanwhile in the Blue Lion….. 

The three Alteans were just sitting around in the cockpit of the Lion, and were talking with each other and were enjoying watching the space mice dance around Blue’s dashboard. Allura and Coran were telling Romelle their stories about what Altea was like, along with stories from their youth. Which Romelle really seemed to enjoy a good bit. She did think that Coran’s stories were a little bit out there, but she quickly came to the conclusion that’s just how he is, and has moved on with life. She has even begun to tell them what life was like back in the Altean Colony. Though she refrains from mentioning Lotor’s name for fear of upsetting Allura at all. She doesn’t know the whole story about it, but from what she had gathered from Hunk when she was riding with him, Allura and Lotor were sort of a thing at one point. And from what he’s told her, Allura seemed to be very in love with the Prince, that was up until they all discovered his true nature. And that broke her heart in 2. So she’s been trying her best to keep from upsetting the Princess. Even though Romelle hasn’t known them that long, she’s really come to like them all, Allura especially, and she doesn’t want to upset her friends any. 

So she just settled to sit there and listen to them retell their own stories of the world that they knew before war took over the universe. And even though she still finds Coran to be slightly eccentric and a whole lot weird in general, she can give him this. That man really knows how to tell a story. Romelle is pretty sure that half the stuff that he’s told her he’s made up, or has embellished just a little bit. But she didn’t have the heart to try and question him about any of it, since he seemed to enjoy telling them so much. Though this is a huge history lesson for Romelle. Hanging around Allura and Coran has taught her more about her Altean heritage than anything that Lotor and his cronies have shoved down hers and her family and friend’s throats. She liked it a lot, and she wishes that she had found out the truth sooner, and met Voltron. Maybe she would have been able to save her little brother and her parents then, and they would still be alive and she could have exposed Lotor for what he truly was, a monster.

=============================================================================== 

Lance was torn between what to do. After he had gotten annoyed at Hunk and Pidge for saying that Keith was his boyfriend, he had told them that he was going to go to bed. But, as soon as he hung up he felt jittery. He knew that Keith was more likely than not asleep and was doing just fine, he had his mother, Shiro, and Kosmo there to help him if anything ever went wrong. And if things got that bad, then all that they had to do was to call one of them and that would be the end of it. But Lance still couldn’t help but worry about him. Lance can admit to himself that he likes Keith in more than the purely platonic way that he likes Hunk, and Shiro, and the rest of the team. He can admit that he has a crush on the new Black Paladin, and he can even admit to himself that he’s probably in love with Keith. He just can’t say any of this out loud, like ever because he values his life, dignity, and his testicales, and not necessarily in that order. But he just couldn’t get his mind to calm down, all that he could think about was Keith’s well being. Lance knew that he couldn’t get any sleep tonight unless he had checked on Keith tonight. 

After some much needed debating in his head, Lance had finally come up with a decision. He was going to dial up Keith in the Black Lion to check on him. It was just going to be as simple as that. If Keith answered then he would just say that he was worried about him and wanted to make sure that he was doing alright. And if Shiro or Krolia were to be the ones who picked up then he would just say that he wanted to check on Keith and make sure that he was alright, and to tell him that he called, and hang up and call it a night. Yeah, that’s all that he would do, regardless of who picked up Lance would keep it all short and sweet and to the point and then go to bed. And if his plan worked, which he is pretty confident that it would, then he would just go to sleep, mind clear and worry free and that would be the end of it. 

Lance ended up going ahead and calling Keith in the Black Lion before he had a chance to chicken out and change his mind. He was so confident that this was going to work out and everything, that when he saw Keith’s face pop up on the screen he froze. Lance was stunned for many reasons when he saw Keith’s face on the screen. The first reason is that he thought that Keith would more than likely be asleep, and that it would have been Shiro or Krolia to answer the line. So seeing Keith up and not so much as about, but seeing him sitting up in his chair was a little worrying since he was supposed to be resting. The second reason that he was shocked was that even though Keith was injured and sick, he still looked beautiful to Lance. He could tell from the bed head alone that Keith had more likely than not just gotten out of bed, and had gone for a change of scenery. More likely than not Keith and anyone else who would take a look at him would probably think that he looked awful. But Lance didn’t think so, to him Keith looked absolutely breathtaking. His hair was hanging loose around his shoulders now, and his bangs were covering his face. But still, Lance could see Keith’s dark purple eyes. Lance could tell that he was paler than normal and he could make out the bags underneath his eyes, but he still looked good to Lance.  


“Lance?” Keith asked after a couple of ticks when he answered the line. Hearing Keith’s voice was enough to shock Lance back to the reality of the situation. It took a couple more ticks for it to fully register in his mind that Keith was trying to talk to him. Lance shook his head to try and get his mind together and talk to him. “Oh, hey Keith!” Lance said. “How’s it going?” He asked him awkwardly. And Lance had to hold back from cringing at himself with how much he hated what he just said to Keith. “I guess that I’m as good to be expected when one feels like crap.” Keith told him. “Why did you call, is something wrong?” He asked him. And damn Keith, who even though he’s mellowed out a lot over their times in space, he’s still as blunt and to the point as he ever was. Lance tried to just play it off as nonchalantly as he possibly could, and he thought that it was working.(Here’s a hint, it wasn’t.) 

Lance just shrugged at him in response. “No, no, nothing’s wrong.” Lance told him as laid back as he could. “I just called to check on you,” Lance told him. “Is that considered a crime in your book or something?” He asked him. Keith just sat in his chair and shook his head at him. “No, I guess not.” Keith said. And it was then that Kosmo came into the view on screen and tried to crawl into Keith’s lap. Lance had to hold back from cackling at how amusing it was to him watching a giant space wolf that was almost twice Keith’s size(And Keith still called him a puppy, so who knows how big he’s going to get) try to fit into his lap like a lap dog. It took about 15 minutes or so of Kosmo and Keith maneuvering, and Keith grunted in discomfort before everything settled back down again. And that was when Lance couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing. The scene before him just looked too precious to him at the moment. All that Lance could really see at the moment was a bunch of blue fur on his screen, and maybe part of Keith’s hair. Kosmo was just sitting there on Keith’s lap, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, smiling and wagging his tail back and forth. He seemed to be pretty happy to sit there in his person’s lap again. Keith on the other hand, well…. That’s another story, but one thing was for sure, Lance was never going to let him live this down. Ever.  


“I like your lap dog there, Keithy.” Lance joked as he watched Keith try and move around Kosmo’s fur to be able to see him on the monitor. “Hahaha, very funny Lance.” Keith told him once he could see him. “And don’t call me Keithy.” He told him. Lance just shrugged and rolled his eyes at him. “Why not? Keithy sounds cute.” Lance said. But Keith just sighed and rolled his eyes on him. Which Lance was taking as a sign that Keith was starting to feel better. “So you never answered me, why did you call me?” Keith asked him. “Well, I thought that Shiro or your mother would answer instead of you, but I just wanted to check up on you.” Lance told him. “You wanted to check on me?” Keith asked him. “Why?” Lance just looked at him. “Why? Can’t I just check on my friend since I’m concerned for his well being?” Lance said. “You’re worried about me?” Keith asked him. And Lance wanted to reach through the screen and take Keith by the shoulders and just shake him. “Yes I care about you dude, I’ll admit it, you scared me a little bit when you went down the other day and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.” Lance told him. Keith didn’t say anything else for a couple of beats, but he had this weird look on his face that Lance has never seen him use before and he wondered what it meant. But he decided that now probably wasn’t the time to ask about it. 

“Thanks Lance.” Keith said softly. And Lance finally noticed that Keith had this weird fond look in his eye, and he would be lying if he said that it didn’t make his heart skip a couple of beats. “I really appreciate it.” Keith told him. Lance couldn’t help but to smile at him. “No problem Keith, that’s what friends are for.” Lance told him. “Now, you still haven’t answered my questions Mr. Kogane.” Lance reminded him. “How are you doing? This was the whole point of me making this call, and where is your mother and Shiro?” Lance asked him. “Mom, and Shiro are asleep in the back.” Keith told him. “I had fallen asleep earlier and I woke up when they were going to bed, and I told them that I couldn’t sleep anymore.” Keith explained to them. “So I was able to convince them to let me stay up some, as long as I don’t do anything too strenuous.” He said. Lance hummed and nodded his head showing that he was listening to what Keith was saying. “Well, how do you feel then? You’ve only answered one question, Kogane.” Lance said as he teased him. Keith just shrugged at him in response. “I’m okay for the most part.” He told him. “My ankle doesn’t hurt as bad anymore, just a little bit stiff and sore.” He said. “I’m still exhausted even though all that I have done is sleep, but I just can’t sleep anymore.” He paused for a minute and rubbed at Kosmo’s fur to get him to calm down some more so that he could talk to Lance clearer. “I haven’t thrown up for the past couple of vargas, and I’m not as nauseous now as I was at the beginning, so I guess that’s a good sign.” Keith told him. And Lance was taking this as a good sign as well.  


“How’s your head, are you feeling better?” Lance asked him. Keith just hummed in response. “Yeah I guess so, it doesn’t feel like someone is stabbing me through the eye with a hot fire poker, and I’m not dizzy whenever I stand up anymore.” Keith told him. “So I guess that I’m doing better overall.” Lance nodded his head. “That’s good.” Lance told him. “Well, how are you doing then Lance?” Keith asked him. And that shocked Lance a little bit. He hadn’t really expected Keith to ask him any questions, man this was getting way more complicated than he thought that it was going to be. “I’m okay, why do you ask?” “Can’t I just be concerned about my friend?” Keith asked him using his own words against him. “No you can, and thank you for using my own words against me.” Lance told him. “But I’m good, I’m good, thank you for asking.” Lance told him. Keith just hummed and rested his head on top of Kosmo’s and Lance thought that it was so cute. “That’s good.” Keith said, though it was slightly muffled by Kosmo’s fur. “I was just worried, I know that you have dealt with homesickness a lot while we have been up here, and I know that this could have been a lot to handle, us going home.” Keith told him. And Lance had to take a couple of breaths to be able to answer Keith without crying. 

“Thanks..” Lance said. “Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it Keith.” Lance told him. “No problem Lance.” Keith told him. “After all that’s what friends are for.” And he even giggled a little bit afterwards. A **giggle**! Lance was starting to think that something happened to the real Keith and that this is some sort of clone or something and they’ll have to repeat everything that they did with Shiro again. Or it could just be that Keith was so sleep deprived and sick that he was getting loopy. Which Lance wouldn’t put past him either, but still the first option sounds very cool in his own mind. Lance and Keith just spent the next half hour or so talking about this and that, and other random things that would pop up in their minds. Things such as:  


“Wait, so how did you let Rachel shave your head, and put you in a dress again?” Keith asked him. “Not the time Kogane, not the time, we all swore never to talk about it again.” Lance told him.

“What?! What do you mean that you have your ears pierced!” Lance asked him. “I mean when I first got put with Gloria when I was a kid, she took me to get my ear pierced.” Keith told him. “She told me that it was cool and that all the kids were doing it so I did.” He said. “But I haven’t worn them in forever, so they’re probably closed now.” Keith told him. “Well, whenever we get back to Earth, I’m taking all of my sister and mother’s earrings and you’re trying them all on.” Lance told him. “I have to see you with them on.” Lance told him, and he was so lost in the conversation that he didn’t notice the fond, loving look that Keith was giving him. 

It had gotten to the point that the two of them were just laughing at nothing at all, and it was there that Lance realized that they really needed to go to bed. He had no idea what time it was, but Lance was tired, and he had no idea how Keith was even talking at this point with how tired he looked. But he knew that Keith would be too stubborn to call it a night himself, so Lance decided to do it for him. “Well, I think that’s it pretty late.” Lance said. “And it’s probably about time that we both turn in.” He told him. “And don’t even think about telling me that you’re fine, when you look like you’re about ready to keel over right now Keith.” Lance told him before Keith could butt in and say that he was fine. Finally he got Keith to give up and say that he was tired and they ended up hanging up so that they could go to sleep. “Goodnight Lance.” Keith told him. “I really liked this, and thanks for checking up on me.” Lance just shook his head at him. “Don’t worry about it man, like I’ve said before that’s what friends are for.” He told him. “And thanks for looking after me too, Fearless leader.” Keith just smiled at him sleepily and Lance had to hold back a squeal. “Good night Keith.” Lance said. And that was when they both hung up. And if Lance had trouble sleeping the rest of the night because he felt like there were butterflies going around his whole body all night, then nobody needs to know about it. All that matters to him is that Keith was okay. 


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Krolia had to part ways once again. He just got her back and now she's gone so soon. He's fine, he really is regardless of what everyone thinks. Lance doesn't believe a word he says. The rest of the Team are cooking up something behind their back that they don't know about. And Shiro, and Kosmo know all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to get out. But that thing that I was doing earlier was cut off because of the pandemic and now it's back on, plus other stuff, so we're back to more infrequent updates again. But don't worry this is getting done eventually, along with my other series, and my SEVENTEEN fic. It's just going to take me a little longer than expected. Anyway, there are some warnings for a brief mention of different mental health conditions, and disorders, so if you think it's triggering for you to read, then don't read it. We don't need any of you hurt, sick, or anything after reading this. Anyway, stay safe, healthy, happy, and I'll shut up now so you can go on and read this. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 5 

That, that sure was something after all. When they heard the distress signal earlier, Lance never would have thought that they would have run into an ex-druid of Haggar's that was dead set on getting rid of all of the Blade of Marmora members. And he never thought that it would go after Keith and Krolia. This was one of those instances that even though Allura didn't really like Kosomo that much, that they were all glad to have him with them. Because if it hadn't been for him, not only would Keith and Krolia be dead but so would the rest of them. Lucky for them all, Kosmo sensed the danger and was able to get Keith out of the line of fire, so that he could have gone and regrouped. Though that didn't make Lance worry any less about him. Even though Keith was relatively healthy and was able to move around and do training exercise with them that his mom had come up with. (Keith loved them a little bit too much, and it then dawned on him how much alike the mother and son duo was.) His ankle was still giving him some minor issues, so he couldn't move as fast as he normally could have. And Lance felt a mixture of worry, fear, and uselessness at watching everything unfold before him. Being frozen in place with the rest of the team really made Lance worry. He couldn't move to go and get to Keith. He couldn't protect his teammate, his friend, his crush. All that the Red Paladin could do was just stand back and watch and it just about killed him. 

Yes, Keith was okay and he was able to beat the Druid and free them all, and get all of the Blades back and save Kolivan and everything worked out in the end. But, Lance still couldn't get over the sheer terror that he felt at the thought of Keith being by himself all alone, unable to protect himself, and at the mercy of that monster. And yes, he knows that Keith is more than capable of handling himself with any type of injury in a fight and could and would still kick his ass if he says any of this out loud, but he's worried. He's always been worried about Keith and some of the stunts that the man has pulled hasn't helped him at all. But he was more than glad that Keith was okay, but he was also still really worried about him. After they were unfrozen, and they checked over Keith, Kolivan, and Kosmo, and made sure that they were alright, Krolia had made a decision. She chose to go off with Kolivan to try and rebuild the Blade, since that Druid had really done a number on their ranks. Lance could see how hard it was for her to up and leave her son again, not that long after she's just gotten him back too. And Lance saw how hard Keith was taking it too. Lance knew how hard it was for Keith growing up without a mother, and how it played a large part in how messed up he was psychologically. But he knew that Keith wasn't going to throw a big fit over it, no matter how much he really wanted to, would let his mother go. Though things were different now Lance supposes, Keith was older, wiser, and calmer, he had found his mother, learned that she left to protect him and not to get rid of him. He now knew that Krolia had been planning on coming back for him when it was safe but that had never arisen before he came to space on his own. Keith now had the piece of mind that his mother loved him more than anything in the universe and that she would come back for him this time, no matter what it took. And he still had Shiro and the rest of them to look out for him until she comes back. So that was a plus.  


Regardless of any plusses that came along with this, there was still one huge down fall in this. And that was that Keith had to be separated from his mother again. Lance knew how well Keith hadeled it the first time, and he was scared that it was going to affect Keith so much that it could cause some problems. And Lance doesn't know about the rest of them, but he really doesn't want to walk in on Keith cutting himself again. Though Lance is pretty sure that the only other person that knows about this is Shiro, but he knows that Pidge wouldn't like it, and that Hunk would be greatly upset, he's not really sure about Allura and Coran and Romelle though. But he just knows that the three Alteans wouldn't be happy about this either. So Lance was determined to do something about this. He was planning on making the rest of the trip back home as a way to try and cheer Keith up a little. And yes, he knows that this is a serious and dangerous situation that they are in, but he knows that they can't do anything if their leader isn't in the right headspace to do anything in. And he's not going to go overboard or anything. He just wants to talk to Keith, like they did back on the Castle before he left for the Blade is all. 

That plan seemed to work really well last time in Lance's own opinion. And he really couldn't get a moment's notice to sneak away and talk to either Keith or Shiro privately without all of the others knowing. And while he knows now that the rest of the team needs to be informed about this, he still doesn't want to be the one to do it. This is Keith's story and Keith himself needs to be the one to do it, and in his own time. All that Lance is capable of his supporting him as he does it. Does he wish that Keith would tell the rest of the team? Yes, yes he does, but as the old saying goes you can take a horse to water but you can't make them drink. So the ball was in Keith's court, and the playbook was left up to his own imagination. Lance could only be a supportive best friend for him. He just really, really hopes that things are going to work out for them this time.  


================================================================================ 

Ever since they had parted ways with Krolia and Kolivan after they took care of that rogue Druid, Keith has felt off. Well, it wasn't off, but he didn't really feel like his normal self. He knows what that feeling is since he's felt this way before, and for a long time in fact. Keith had felt like this most of his life growing up when it finally sunk in for him that his Mom wasn't there and that she probably wasn't coming back. Even though she did come back later on and not in the same way that he thought that she would. And now, that he's older and wiser and he knows the things that he knows about the universe now, he understands. He understands now and he's not upset with her for leaving him and his Dad. At that time it was the only choice that she had that could keep them safe. And really, how can he get mad at her for his father's death. How the hell was Krolia supposed to know that his Dad was going to die in that fire. And how was she supposed to know what was going to happen to Keith afterwards until Shiro found him. She's not a mind reader, she was just a young mother, doing her best to try and keep her whole family safe and try to stop a thousands of years old intergalactic war at the same time. She couldn't possibly have thought of every scenario possible. The only being in this galaxy able to do that is Slav. And he gets on Keith's nerves a little bit too much so he doesn't talk to him unless he absolutely has to. 

The point that Keith is trying to get at here, is that he misses his mother. Which isn't something that was really that new to him. A part of him has always missed his mother, even when the rest of him wasn't that fond of her and wanted to forget that she even existed. But that's not the point here, the point is that he misses her. And in reality, they have probably only been gone for about a couple of hours Earth time at most. But, after all of these years being separated, and then being reunited and having to go their separate ways so soon. It's just that it's a lot for Keith to try and comprehend. And even then he's still not sure that he really gets it. He loves his mother, he really does and she is some of the only family that he has left in the universe and he really doesn't know what he would do with himself if something terrible ever happened to Krolia, or Shiro, or Axca. And he can't forget the Team that has become like a family to him after all of this time that they have spent together. Even after all of this personal growth that he's done in the past couple of years on the Space Whale, he still has trouble expressing his feelings for others. But that's not going to stop him from feeling emotions for his team, for his family. Because without them, he wouldn't be sitting here right now, hell, he wouldn't even be alive right now. And that is the full God honest truth right there. 

Keith was brought out of his own little world when Kosmo came over and put his head in his lap. The new weight in his lap made the Black Paladin snap back to reality and he turned his head down to look at the space wolf. "Good boy." Keith said softly as he petted his wolf on the head. Kosmo has been a great addition to his life. He just has a way of keeping Keith safe and helping him to calm down in very high stressful situations. He guesses what they say is true, animals are really good for anxiety and whatnot. Keith is very glad that he found Kosmo and took him to raise. He didn't know what he would do without his new furry friend. Yes, he still has his brother to ride with him in Black, but Kosmo is more cuddlier than Shiro is. (Though Shiro is never to find that part out.) And Kosmo's blue fur reminds him of the color of Lance's eyes if he looks at it just right. (And that's something else that will never leave his mind or the Black Lion.) Kosmo is like Keith's protector. He knows that Kosmo would never let anything happen to him. And he proved that to them all today.  


"What are you thinking about?" Keith turned his head at the sound of his brother's voice. He found the former Black Paladin standing in the doorway to the cockpit of the lion. He was leaning up against the wall, and had his one arm crossed against his chest. Keith couldn't help but feel the pain of guilt that they weren't able to save the arm that the Garla gave him. But it was either lose an arm, or lose his brother and probably his own life, so it sort of helps even things out in the end."Nothing." Keith told him. "Just lost in thought is all." He said. Though by the look that Shiro was giving him as he turned around in his seat, he more likely than not didn't believe him. It didn't take that long for Shiro to walk over to stand behind him, and place his one hand on his shoulder. Keith didn't even flinch at the contact. He was so used to this that it didn't even phase him anymore when Shiro did this to him. "I know you miss her, don't pretend you don't Keith." Shiro told him gently in a soft voice. Keith just shrugged. "I'm not pretending anything, I'm just thinking about things." Keith told him. And he did his best to make sure that his voice didn't crack or waver to give him away. He knew that Shiro was searching for his tells, and he wasn't going to give it to him. 

"Well this stuff that you are so intently thinking about, does it have anything to do with a certain Red Paladin?" Shiro asked in a teasing tone in his voice. Keith had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes and huffing at his older brother. He wasn't going to let Shiro in on his inner turmoil just yet. Knowing his older brother, Shiro would just push him to go and confront his emotions and have him deal with it like an adult. Though he really, really didn't want to go and do that. He would rather just sit here and pet Kosomo and ignore his feelings for his fellow Paladin and close friend Lance, and hope that they go away eventually. Realistically thinking though, he knows that it's not going to happen like that, but a boy can dream can't he? According to Shiro he can't. "No it doesn't alright, will you just drop it already." Keith told him. "And beside even if I was thinking about Lance which I'm not, what is that going to do for me?" Keith asked him. "Lance doesn't see me like that anyway, even if I did like him." He told his older brother. "He's in love with Allura not me." And he didn't miss the way that Shiro not so subtly rolled his eyes at him in exasperation. But he just simply chose to ignore it all, just topiss the elder off. Don't you just love having siblings?  


=============================================================================== 

Keith really didn't know how much time had passed when he heard the signal sound for an incoming transmission. He jumped a little bit in his seat, and Kosmo grunted at being moved from his comfortable position in his lap. He read the notice and saw that Lance was the one that was pinging him. Keith was not going to lie and say that his heart didn't speed up in rhythm at the mention of the other Paladin's name. He had to take a few ticks to try and calm himself down a bit before he answered the call. Hesitantly he went and pressed the icon allowing him to access the transmission. And it wasn't long until Lance's face popped up onto the screen. And as soon as Keith made eye contact with him, the Black Paladin felt his heart stop for a couple of ticks. There was Lance, he wasn't dressed up or anything, in fact he was the complete opposite of dressed and ready for the public. He was still in his pajamas, and he had all of that skincare crap that he uses all over his face, and something strange in his hair. Keith wasn't really sure what it was and he wasn't about to go asking for it either. Normally, this would just make anyone who looked at him think he looked back. In fact, it had the complete opposite reaction on Keith. He thought that Lance looked absolutely breathtakingly beautiful to Keith, and he'll stand by that opinion until the day that he dies. Though Keith isn't that surprised, Lance has always been able to take his breath away regardless of what he does. 

"Lance?" Keith questioned softly once the shock wore off and he could actually kind of communicate without making a huge fool of himself (hopefully). Lance just smiled at him, or at least he tried to with the face mask that he was wearing to try and clear his skin up some. (Though Keith doesn't understand why he does it since he thinks that Lance's skin has always looked beautiful, and doesn't get why he freaks out about it so much.) "Why, hello there, our Fearless Leader." Lance said in greeting. "What a funny thing running into you here." He told him. Keith gave him an unimpressed look at that remark. "What are you talking about?" Keith asked him. "We're in our own separate lions, and you are the one who called me, remember?" He told him. Lance just snorted in response. "It was a joke dude," Lance told him. "I was just trying to lighten the mood some you know." He told him with a shrug of his shoulders. "Just wanted to check up on you, and see how you were." And God, Keith didn't know whether he wanted to beat Lance or not. He thought that it was sweet that Lance wanted to check up on him and make sure that he was okay, and at the same time it got on his nerves, because he was **Fine**. Alright, he was fine and he didn't need the extra coddling. But he could never say that to Lance's face.  


"Well, I'm glad and I appreciate your concern Lance, but I'm fine." Keith told him. He looked down at Kosmo while he petted the large space wolf's head. He had fallen asleep in Keith's lap as he was talking to Lance. "Yeah, okay, you can say that but is it the truth?" Lance asked him. And he was so infuriating that Keith really just wanted to punch him, or kiss him stupid. He wasn't sure which, but he would have decided depending on his mood at the moment. And damn it, Lance knew how to read through him almost better than Shiro and his mother can. "Fine." Keith admitted a few minutes after a lull had befallen their conversation. "I may not be as fine as I first admitted to being." Keith told him. And Keith was sure that if Lance didn't have that stupid face mask on then he would be smirking at him in triumph. "I knew it." Lance told him. But, surprisingly that was all that Lance said. He figured that Lance would have taken great pleasure in rubbing it in that he was right and Keith was wrong. He just sat on the other end of the video line and was just looking at Keith. He had no idea what Lance was doing or what was going on through his mind, but he just wanted to know what the Hell he was doing. 

"I know that you're probably missing your mom and everything, but you know that you can always talk to me right?" Lance asked him. "You don't have to revert back to some of your 'old habits'." He told him. And Keith knew what lance meant by 'old habits'. Keith hasn't cut or harmed himself in what was it now, two, three years. He hasn't done anything ever since Lance walked in on him that night, and he was too scared of relapsing and Lance finding out and never talking to him ever again. He knew that Lance probably wouldn't do it, but he was terrified of Lance thinking that he was disgusting and just throwing him away and leaving him like everyone else had done to him in the past except Shiro. And he knew that Lance and Shiro both wanted him to come out to the team about his mental health issues that he has been struggling with his whole life. And he knew that Shiro really wanted him to talk to at least Lance about what happened with Gloria. He also knew from listening to his mother, Lance and Shiro that all of those therapists and social workers were right when he was little. If he just went and talked about it all then he would start to feel better and heal from those traumatic instances from his past. Keith knew that it was the right thing for him to do, but he just couldn't do it. It was like there was some sort of mental block on him or something that just stopped the words from ever coming out of his mouth whenever he tried to talk about this stuff. It probably didn't help that Keith has never been one who has been good at opening up to people and expressing his emotions openly and freely anyway, but still. This was hard stuff for him to talk about with the people that he loved and trusted with his life.  


"Don't worry Lance." Keith told him. " I haven't cut or anything since you caught me that night after Shiro went 'missing'." Even though he technically died and all, it was still very hard for him to say out loud that his brother had d-i-ed. He knew that's what happened and he will admit it to himself, but he just can't say it out loud without fully breaking down and all. Keith couldn't really tell if Lance's face changed at all when he mentioned that or not. It was hard to tell when he still had all of that goop on his face. "That's great Keith!" Lance told him enthusiastically. "I'm so proud of you!" And Keith would never admit it, but he blushed just a tiny little bit at the comment. He really enjoyed the fact that Lance was proud of him way more than he cared to admit. But he would never say that out loud. "Thanks." Keith said. "And even if I wanted to, I know that it wouldn't happen, I have Shiro riding along with me 24/7 and I have you looking out for me Sharpshooter." He said with a small smile. And it was a good thing that Lance had the face mask on, or else Keith would have seen how red his face got when Keith told him that. 

"I forgot to ask this when I first called, but I didn't interrupt anything did I?" Lance asked. "I didn't know if you were busy or not but I just wanted to talk to you in all honesty." He told him. Keith shook his head in response. "No, no you didn't bother me at all, I was just sitting here thinking when you called." Keith said as he bent his head down to check on Kosmo again. Lance just hummed and nodded his head again. "Well that's good." Lance said. "So what have you been up to lately?" Lance asked him. And Keith knew that this was just Lance's way of checking up on him and making sure that he was okay after everything that had happened today. It wasn't every day that you're almost killed by a crazy ex-druid and are separated from your mother who you thought was dead for most of your life. Lance was just trying to distract him and trying to get his mind off of his mother so that it would be harder to miss her. It's what he used to do with Hunk and Pidge whenever any of the three of them were homesick for Earth. "Nothing much, just been sitting around and thinking since Mom left with Kolivan." Keith told him. "I really miss her Lance." Keith admitted softly. "Well then, how about a game of 20 questions to pass the time then?" Lance asked him. Keith just smiled at him softly. "Oh, it's on McClain." 

And their conversation went on as the following: 

"Okay,.... So favorite movie?" Lance asked him. Keith actually had to think about that question. He had never really been that much of a movie person. They never really were big on movies in the foster homes and group homes that he was in. Shiro tried to get him into movies to have a hobby other than drawing, but he really wasn't successful. Though he can remember watching some of the old westerns with his father as a little boy, Gloria had found a movie series that he actually liked and he would make her watch with him all the time. "I guess, if I had to pick, then it's _'The Fast And The Furious'_ movies." Keith told him. "Or _'Deadpool'_." Lance just looked at him. "Of course you would pick some of the most violent movies out there." He told him. Keith just huffed in response. "Fine, then what's your favorite movie then?" Lance put a lot more thought into his answer than Keith did. Though from some of the stories that he's heard, Lance's family are really big on movies. " _'Mary Poppins'_ , or _'Grease'_ , the first one, not the second one." Lance told him. " It's not the same without John Travolta in it."  


"Okay, um.... I guess your favorite color....?" Keith questioned him. He really wasn't sure what to ask so he just went with one of the most basic questions out there. Lance didn't comment on it though, so Keith guessed that it was okay. "Violet I guess, or more like a dark blue-purple, indigo color I guess." Lance told him. And that was oddly specific. "That's oddly specific." Keith told him. "What can I say Mullet, I know what I like." He told him. "What's yours then?" Lance asked him. "Blue." Keith said without any hesitation whatsoever. He didn't want to elaborate any further than that for fear of embarrassing himself. It wasn't exactly a lie though, his favorite color is blue, but to be exact it's the color of Lance's eyes. But he was never going to tell him that. It would be too weird. 

"Okay, got any hobbies?" Lance asked him. He was fling his nails and looking at Keith through the corner of his eyes as he watched the video feed. Keith knew what his favorite and only hobby was. But he thought that it was sort of embarrassing to admit it though, even if he trusts Lance not to make fun of him for it. "I,.. um.. I draw, does that count?" Keith asked him. "Oh really?" Lance asked. And Keith won't admit that he liked the way that Lance's face lit up at the mention of his drawing skills. "Yeah, my Pop showed me how to draw when I was little, and after he died, it was one of the only things that I had left of him." Keith told him. "I stopped for a little bit, not that long after he died, but I realized that it made the hurt go away a little bit the more I did it." He told him. "It was very therapeutic for me the older I got." Lance just hummed in agreement. "What about you Lance?" Keith asked him. "Music, singing, dancing, drama, anything artsy, but drawing." Lance told him. " I can't draw anything decent if my life depended on it, but I loved doing everything else." Lance told him. "My family has always had a flare for the dramatics, and music and stuff like that." He said. "And I just sort of picked up a little bit of everything along the way." Lance said. "Though I will admit that the drama was a little bit harder because of my dyslexia and stuff." He told him. "But at the same time once I got the hang of things it helped control my ADHD too, so there was that." Lance told him. Keith was just a little bit shocked at that. "I didn't know that you had dyslexia, or ADHD?" Keith said. Lance just nodded. "Yeah, Rachel and I have dyslexia, I guess it's a twin thing or something, and Marco and I both have ADHD, but he also has ADD too." Lance explained to him. "Man, that's a lot." Keith said. "I just have a mixture of general and social anxiety disorder, anxiety attacks that sometimes turn into panic attacks, clinical depression, and PTSD kind of." Keith said. "Man, we really are both screwed up." Keith said jokingly. Lance just laughed at that.  


"Okay, .. um.. What's your middle name?" Lance asked him. "Mine is Charles." He told him. "So wait, let me get this straight." Keith told him. "You mean to tell me that your full name is Lance Charles McClain?" Keith asked. "Yes." Lance said. "I am like ¾ hispanic and all, but I'm named after the whhite part of my family so.." He trailed off with a shrug. "That's way better than my name." Keith told him. "Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Lance said. "What is it?" Lance asked him. "Keith Akira Kogane." Keith told him. "Akira?" Lance asked him. Keith nodded. "Yep, I'm part Korean or something, and my Pop was a huge fan of anime and stuff, and he convinced Mom to name me that after she talked her out of naming me Yorak." "Yorak?" Lance asked him. "Don't ask." Keith said. And Lance didn't bring it up again. 

And before either of them realized it, they had talked the whole entire night cycle away. They were tired come morning in space, but neither of them really cared. They both ended up crashing for a couple of ticks, but other than that, they didn't really get any rest. And if Keith was lost in his head the whole rest of the day thinking about how Lance animatedly talks about his family and how he loves how lively he is while doing it, then no one needed to know. And if Lance was spending all of his time trying to get around the thought of Keith;s eyes as he talked, and his laugh when he thought that one of the stupid jokes that he told was funny. And He was rejoicing over the fact that now he finally knew what the 'A' stood for in his name.So all in all a win win situation for him. But neither one of them were going to admit anything about that to anyone else.  


============================================================================== 

Meanwhile in the other lions…. 

“So, what’s the next move?” Hunk asked them. Him, Pidge, Allura, Romelle, Coran, and the space mice were on video call. They were all supposed to be discussing what their next move was going to be to try and get their friends together. So far, they haven’t really gotten that far with their plans. They haven’t really been in any position to get their two co-leaders isolated by themselves to talk. The team had been pretty much spending all of their time floating through space, traveling closer, and closer to Earth. Today was the only time that they had been out of their lions in weeks, they think. And the only thing that they got accomplished at that time was trying not to die. It was just pure dumb luck that they were able to get out of there in time before they all got killed. And Krolia had to leave with Kolivan to try and restart up the Blade of Marmora in hopes of getting enough allies to end this once and for all. 

“Well, I have no idea what to do now?” Allura said. “Oooh, if only we were able to get out of the lions and actually have them together.” She said. Everyone was sort of at a loss for what to do now. They were approaching Earth closer and closer by the day, and who knows what kind of a potential war zone that they could be walking in on. If they didn’t get them together now then,... Well, no one wants to even think about it. “Well maybe once we stop again, or when we get to Earth we can work on it better.” Hunk told them. “I mean we have to still take breaks every once and awhile and we’ll be able to get them to spend more time together. “ He told them. “And when we get back to Earth we’ll be able to do the same thing hopefully.” “Well, I can tell you right now, if we were back on Altea when I was a young lad..” Coran began. “Oh no, here we go again.” Romelle muttered underneath her breath, while the rest of the team just groaned internally. After they finally got Coran to stop retelling the stories of his youth, they spent a couple more hours trying to plan out what to do. By the time that they called it quits, they still really didn’t know what to do. But they all had hopes that they would figure it out eventually. Little did they know though, that their two future love birds were already doing everything that they wanted them to do to get even closer than they were before. And none of them were even the wiser that Keith and Lance were slowly falling, deeper and deeper in love with each other and they didn’t even know it yet. The only one who had any suspicions of anything going on were Shiro, and Kosmo, and that was because they heard more of the conversations that Keith and Lance had than the two realized. As the saying goes, ‘Love is in the air’. Even in a thousands of years old intergalactic war.  



	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, this is all pretty much Klance, with a little bit of Shiro and Kosmo thrown in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's the next chapter hope that you all enjoy. And before we get going, I have gotten all of my episode information from the Wiki Fandom page for Voltron. And the same goes for the time measurements, and some other sites that I have found them on, like 'Reddit.' And anything in another language I got from Google Translate, so if it's wrong or slightly off then that's why and if you tell me I'll try to fix it. And this part gets a little bit more into Keith's traumatic back story. So head the tags, and cautions attached to this work and don't push yourself to read it please! Take care of yourself, and skip it if you have to, I won't be offend, your mental, and physical health is more important. And if you see this story on Wattpad, it's still me I have an account on that site as well. I think I remembered everything I was supposed to put in this.That's all for my rant today. Have a nice day, be safe and healthy out there people!   
> -N.

Chapter 6

_"Are we even really friends? Is there anything holding us together besides some messed-up series of coincidences? I mean, what are we? Some chosen saviors? Do you really believe that?!"_

That had been something that Lance hadn't been able to get out of his mind since Keith uttered those words earlier when they were separated from the lions. And Lance doesn't know what to make of it still. It was sort of hard to believe that all of this had started when Shiro had told them that they needed to work on their bonds as Paladins since they hadn't been able to form Voltron since they defeated Lotor almost a year ago. And now Lance knows that it wasn't a good thing that they couldn't form Voltron, after all that was probably going to be the only way that they could defeat the Garla and save Earth once and for all. Shiro was right, they needed to get their shit together and be able to use their bonds and form Voltron like they used to be able to do. Though it probably didn't help any that over their journey through space to get back to Earth their morale had started to decrease the closer and closer they got. Or at least Lance assumed that they were getting closer. He honestly wasn't sure what direction was up anymore at this point. All that he wanted to do was go home, see his family, and just forget about the Garla for a minute. Have some room to breathe, enjoy the air, watch the rain fall, and annoy the crap out of his family like he used to. And he knows that this is probably a little bit selfish, because he knows that he's not the only one who feels this way. And then you have Coran, Romelle, and Allura who have something completely different going on. They're walking onto a planet that none of them have ever been on before. And it wasn't like when they all went to a new planet together as Voltron, where all of them were the outsiders. Though more likely than not Coran had either been there before on one of his journeys with Alfor in his youth, or a family member had, or he read a book, or something. The point of the matter here is that Coran almost always knew something about where they were going and how to interact with the locals. He can't do that here now. And even though all of their Paladins are from Earth, no one can really tell them definitely what's going to happen to them when they get there. The last time that anything alien like had landed on Earth was when Shiro had come back, and that didn't go over too well. And Lord only knows what Pidge's Dad had to go through when he got back to Earth, or if he got back to Earth. But he can't be going down that train of thought right now. 

The point that Lance was trying to determine here was this; Was Keith right? Were they only friends, were they just together because they didn't have a choice. Lance could see where Keith was coming from, the only one that Lance had been close with before they came to space was really Hunk. Before Pidge just pretty much tolerated him, and he idolized Shiro, and gawked at Keith from afar like a lovesick 12-year old(Which he was at one point though.) And he hadn't met Allura, Coran, and Romelle until later on. While Hunk was in the same boat as him, Keith just had Shiro. He had Shiro who he thought of as an older brother, who he lost, then got back, then lost again, then got back to only find out that the last time was a complete and utter sham, and his older brother, his protector, had died and he didn't even know it. Sure, he did find his mother later on, but that was later, and it was in the middle of all of this mess that was 'Where's Shiro?' Lance kind of doesn't know how Keith didn't completely lose his mind during that time. He doesn't believe it when Keith tells him that it was because of him. But was he right? Were they only nice to each other just because they had to be to form Voltron. After all of this is over, are they all just going to go their separate ways and never speak to each other again and just forget that all of this ever happened like some bad dream? Lance doesn't think that he could ever do that.  


That raised another question for him then. Did Keith think of him that way? Were all of those late night conversations not only on the Castle of Lions, but in their journey this past year. Lance is pretty sure that he's spent more of his night cycles talking to Keith about frivolous stuff, and their childhood and stuff like that. Not to mention all of the messages that they sent back and forth when Keith was with the Blade before he went on the Space Whale. And the internal panic that Lance felt as he thought of every worse situation possible that could have happened to him when he went radio silence so suddenly. The last thing that Keith had said to him before he went to the ship that Krolia was undercover on to pick her up was a simple: _Okay, I'll try not to be stupid- don't worry Lance._ And then it was just silence. All that Lance could think of for days afterwards was the Battle of Naxela, and what could have gone wrong. Luckily, not that long after Lance was sinking into a spiral of crippling depression, and manic tendencies, their lives as Paladins got crazy. Everything with Lotor just seems to have kept snowballing and snowballing. Lance had figured out that there was something up not only with him, but Shiro also(The clone one not the real one). And then he died when they were trying to fix the Omega Shield. Allura was luckily able to revive him but, still he had died. And he will admit that he probably hasn't been dealing with it in the most practical way that he should have. Hell, Keith doesn't even know about it, neither does Romelle, and maybe not Shiro. He can remember Shiro saying he knew everything that was going on when he was in Black, but when Allura transferred his consciousness out of Black and into his clone's body it messed with his head some. But he was more concerned with Keith **not** finding out about this. And yes, Lance knew that as their leader Keith should probably know about this, but he could just never bring himself to tell him. He doesn't know why though. It probably has something to do with the fact that he wanted to protect Keith. Ever since Lance ran into Keith that night all those years back on the Castleship after Shiro went missing, he had seen another side of Keith that he didn't think existed. He was vulnerable, especially around him which was shocking to Lance. It made him seem more human to Lance, and he's been weirdly over protected of the Black Paladin ever since. So, it made Lance uneasy that Keith said that. 

Lance knows that Keith and him didn't start off on the right foot when they first started out in space. Literally anyone on the team or anyone that they came into contact with could tell you that much. Lance was trying to annoy Keith in some juvenile way to get his attention and show him that he was a good enough choice to be his friend(Read Boyfriend), and that he could keep up with him. And then Keith was coldly, and calmly indifferent( Severely traumatized, and socially constipated and anxious.) And that just made Lance even more determined than ever to get Keith's attention. Luckily they were able to get their shit together somewhat, but at the same time, was any of it real? Did Keith even like him as a friend, or was he just barely tolerating him as he originally thought that he was? Lance didn't know what he would do, if it turned out to be the second option, he really didn't. 

=============================================================================== 

Keith was pretty sure that he was in the middle of a full blown panic attack. He didn't know how else to word it, he knew that this was more than just an adrenaline rush. It also was a big clue that it had been hours since they had reunited with the Lions and weren't out there dying in space or whatever, and his heart is still feeling like it's trying to beat out of his chest. He will admit that it's been awhile since he's had a panic attack at all, especially one that's this bad. He's pretty sure that the last one that he had that was this bad was the night he decided to leave for the Blade. After he had spoken with Lance that night, and the former Blue Paladin had left the room, Keith spent the next couple of Vargas sitting curled up in a little ball in his room trying not to rip his hair out and claw at his skin. He was so freaked out, almost immediately as Lance voiced his insecurities about being a Paladin and wanting to step down, Keith knew that he had to do something. At the time he thought, no he knew that the right thing for him to do at the time was to leave. But, he was so scared to do so. He just got his brother back(not really, but at the time he thought that he did), all of his friends were in the Castle, and they had started to become his very own little family. And most importantly of all, Lance was there. At this point, Keith knew that his feelings for Lance was more than just some schoolboy crush. He was in love with his fellow Paladin. And now he finally gets what his mother was saying when you love someone so much, you'd do anything for them. Keith would be willing to throw himself off of a cliff and into an active volcano if it meant that Lance would be happy. (Though, that is a little bit extreme, but you get the point.) On the other hand though, he was too scared of leaving his whole family behind, especially Lance. With Keith's deep-rooted abandonment issues he was scared that if he left then everyone would leave him. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him, he learned a long time ago that he had to leave before he got attached and everyone would leave him. So he learned to prevent the heart break from ever happening, just leave. But for some reason he just couldn't do that this time. He loved them all too much to do that. He was already attached and he just couldn't let go. 

That night Keith didn't sleep at all, he just cried. At one point he was able to compose himself enough to call Kolivan and tell him his decision about joining the Blade full-time. Keith's pretty sure that was one of the worst nights of his life, and he never wants to do something like that again. And he had thought that everything was okay now, that everything was back to normal, until today. Shiro was right, their bond with the lions wasn't like it used to be, and they needed to do something about it. But they couldn't since all of them were in the midst of a really low morale period. And Keith could understand that, it's been a long journey for all of them to get back to Earth, and everyone was just impatient and cranky. Keith had tried to lighten things up a bit he really did, even when they were all lost and were just floating around in space. But nothing that he did seemed to work. In fact the more Keith tried to make things better, the more things just seemed to get worse. It was starting to make Keith wonder if any of this was true or not. Were they really a family, friends? Or were they all just being nice to each other because they didn't have any other choice. And Keith, in his still irrational mind-set thinks that it's a huge possibility. The only person that he knew, like really knew and was close to before all of this was Shiro. Shiro found him, took him, and taught him everything, while taking care of him like a good big brother. He had met Pidge before, back when she still had long hair and went by the name Katie, but they never really hung out or anything. And he had seen Hunk around the Garrison a couple of times, but just enough to recognize his face when he saw him again right before they left Earth. And for the longest time he thought that Lance's name was Taylor, and hell he's had a crush on the other boy since he was like 12! And Coran, and Allura, and Romelle he knows the very least about. All of the events today were just making him so anxious that he couldn't stand it. When he knew that it was getting bad he went back to where his and Shiros' cots were set up and hoped that he could calm down before Shiro found him. He had told Keith that Coran wanted to go over something with him, and just left him up in the cockpit so that he could have some privacy. And Kosmo had been going in and out of the room trying to calm him down but it wasn't working.  


"Keith?" And damn it! He should have realized earlier that Kosmo would have gone and gotten Shiro when the wolf had never come back after he left the room the last time. Keith didn't even look up as he heard the older male walk into the room. Carefully Shiro moved to sit beside the younger on the cot. Though he left enough room for the two of them to not be touching. He had learned from experience that it was best sometimes just to let Keith have his space at first, and to let him come to you on his own. "Are you alright?" Shiro asked him softly. And at this point Keith knew that he couldn't lie to him anymore. Keith just shook his head that was buried in his knees, and hoped that Shiro could see it. He felt like he was dying and that the whole world was trying to come down on his head. So no, he wasn't alright, he was exhausted, drained, and terrified. He just wanted all of this to stop. He just wanted to be left alone. But he knew that Shiro wasn't going to do that. 

"Okay then." Shiro told him. "I'm just going to stay right here with you then alright Keith?" He said. "Just take your time, and you can come to me whenever you're ready Keith." And God, that just made Keith cry even harder. What the hell did he ever do to deserve someone like Shiro in his life. Even with all of the shit and trauma that Shiro's been put through in his life, he still always finds time to try and take care of Keith no matter what he's done. With all of the crap that Keith's given then and all of the stupid stunts he's attempted, Shiro will still drop everything at a moment's notice to try and help him out. He really hasn't done anything worthy enough to have Shiro in his life. "M'sorry." Keith choked out through his sobs. It was starting to get even harder to breathe for Keith at the moment. "What do you have to be sorry for?" Shiro asked him. And Keith could hear him shuffling a little bit closer to him, though he still kept his distance from him. Keith knows that he's just trying to give him his space and was trying not to overwhelm him, but he really wanted his big brother at the moment. He needed Shiro to come closer to him desperately, he wanted human contact, he was scared and he wanted someone to hold him. Keith just shook his head at his brother's question. At this point he was able to lift up his head to look at him a little bit, but he still was panicking a lot. And before Shiro knew it, Keith launched himself across the bed to him, and threw his arms around him in a bear hug. Keith clung onto him and just started sobbing his heart out. Shiro was quite shocked at this, he didn't think that Keith was this bad when he walked in here. When Kosmo came to get him, he knew that something was up with Keith. The younger man had been acting slightly off ever since they had been reunited after they lost them earlier in the day-ish. Once they were able to get the lions working again, and Pidge was able to determine that they were close to Earth, and Coran wanted to go over somethings about Earth to try and give Keith and the rest of them a little bit of a break. He knew Keith had probably gone back to where their cots were kept to get some sleep and destress a bit. To be honest he wasn't that surprised when Kosmo came to get him, and dragged him over to see Keith. Luckily, he and Coran had just hung up when the wolf had teleported himself into the room. He automatically knew that something was wrong with his pseudo-little brother, and that he had to do something about. Shiro doesn't really mention this a whole lot but he loves Keith like he was his own flesh and blood little brother. And he hates seeing the younger man cry.  


"Oh Keith." Shiro said softly, as he used his one arm to wrap Keith up in a hug. "It's okay, it's going to be okay." He told him. Keith just shook his head at him, and tried to bury himself deeper in the older man's chest. "N...N-oo, it's not." Keith gasped out to him. He just kept shaking his head at him. "Keith what's wrong? You know that you can tell me anything right?" Shiro told him. Keith nodded his head at him. "So tell me, what's wrong, I just want to help you Keith." " I don't know what to do.." Keith choked out. His breathing was picking up speed anymore, but it was still a little bit too fast for Shiro's liking. "Well why don't you tell me about it and maybe we can work something out?" Shiro questioned. "Is this real?" Keith asked him. And for a minute there Shiro was worried that Keith had disassociated again. He's only ever done it once that Shiro knows of, and he did it on him and Adam, but that scared the shit out of him. "What do you mean Keith?" Shiro asked him. "Is this real, are we all really Paladins, friends, family, whatever you want to call it?" Keith questioned him, and his breathing was starting to get rapid again. "Or are we all just nice to each other just because we have no choice?" Keith told him. "Like you said today, our bond with each other and the lions wasn't like it used to be ever since we defeated Lotor." Oh, oh, that makes a whole lot of sense now. Keith was freaking out about what he had said earlier. He knew that Keith would be mildly upset with the fact that their bond wasn't as strong as it used to be and as it should be. And with what Keith told him happened when they were floating around in space earlier, he knew that his little brother's stress levels would probably be through the roof. He will give Keith credit though, he's grown, matured, and mellowed out a lot since they've come to space. But he still has the bad habit of internalizing everything wrong in his life, and just bottling it up until he's going to explode. And for once in his life, Shiro's not really sure if he can make things better for Keith this time, and calm him down. He's not sure what to do. 

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Lance was just sitting in the pilot's chair in the Red Lion. He was chilling out and just winding down a little bit trying to get himself calmed down enough to try and go to sleep. He knew that they were really going to need all the sleep that they could get once they hit Earth. They had no idea what they were getting ready to walk into, and they had to be prepared for everything. But he just couldn't seem to get his mind to slow down and shut off. If he wasn't thinking about his family back on Earth, and what they must have been going through these past couple of years thinking that he was missing or dead, or worse. He's not even sure what could be worse than death, but he knew that he felt guilty for putting his family for all of their worry regardless. And he was worried about if the Garla had gotten to Earth, was his family okay? Were they somewhere safe? Were.. were.. Were they dead? Lance felt his heart drop into his stomach at that one. He immediately erased that thought from his mind. No, no his family was okay, they were just fine and nothing bad happened to them, and Lance would give them all hugs when he first sees them when they get back. The other thing on his mind was Keith. He was still hung over the question of whether or not his fellow Paladin and Leader felt the same feeling for him that Lance felt for him. He knew that it wasn't the best time to be thinking about all of this but he just couldn't stop.  


Giving up on falling asleep anytime soon, Lance decided to find something to distract himself. He didn't feel like going through all of his stuff to try and find his guitar that he had hidden somewhere in the Red Lion. Music has always been a constant in his life. His whole family loved Music on both sides, so he's been exposed to all kinds of things from Latin, to Irsish, to American. Pop, rock, jazz, and R&B, he loves them all. And don't even get him started on dancing. Lance was very sure that if it wasn't for music he probably wouldn't have gotten through this without tearing his hair out and having a full on meltdown. But there was sometimes the music that made him even more homesick and antsy than he was before. Lately, though he's been turning towards something else to soothe his nerves. He got up and went to where he had his cot set up in the back of the cockpit. The room that everyone else was using as their bedrooms, he had set up for his cow Kattlenecker. Lance lifted up his pillow, and picked up the black leather-bound sketchbook that he's been hiding there for months. No, it wasn't his, Lance can't draw to save his life, it's part of the reason that he sticks to music. The book was Keith's and he had found it hidden in his room after the other had left the castle for the Blade of Marmora. It just started with him looking through it whenever he would miss Keith, but over time he's just flipped through when he's bored, or sad, or happy, you get the point now. Anyway, even though Keith's been back with them for a while now, he still hasn't given the book back. He's really not even sure if Keith has noticed if it's gone or not, and he's been too scared to ask. 

Lance was just lost in his own head, minding his own business when he heard a noise from behind him. Turning his head Lance was surprised to see Kosmo and Shiro in the room with him. Last time that Lance had checked, his only roommate for the past little bit was Kattlenecker. Shiro and Kosmo have been with Keith for most of the journey. Though Shiro did spend a little bit of time with Pidge, he came back when Krolia left. "What?" Lance asked slightly confused. He had absolutely no idea what was going on here. Why were Shiro and Kosmo in his lion? Weren't they supposed to be in Black with Keith? Was there something wrong? Shiro was still on the floor underneath the giant space wolf, so all that he got was a groan. And before Lance could stop him Kosmo charged at him. And then the next thing that he knew Lance was on the floor of a lion. But it wasn't his lion. And Kosmo teleported off to who knows where. It was only then that Lance realized that he was in the Black Lion. "Lance?' He heard Keith whisper in a gravelly voice. Oh no Kosmo what have you done. 

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"Lance?" Keith questioned with a gasp. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on. One moment he was sitting in his older brother's lap, and then next his wolf came barreling into the room, and then they were gone, and Keith was left alone. He was left alone to his foggy and panicky mind for about 15 seconds before he heard another loud thud. His head immediately snapped up and he could feel his heart rate pick up again at the thought of an intruder or someone else in here with him. He will admit that it took him a little bit longer than he liked to be able to recognize Lance on the floor before him. And when it finally clicked that his crush was in the same room as him as he was having a panic attack, Keith did the only other thing that he could think of. He started to panic even more. Lance couldn't see him like this. He'd think that he's disgusting, and pathetic and won't come anywhere near him anymore. He had to get himself under control and try to save the situation anyway that he can. But the more that he was trying to calm himself down the more amped up he was getting. This wasn't working at all. 

After Lance got over the initial shock of being transported from one lion to another and being left alone with Keith of all people, Lance was able to gain his bearings back. The first thing that he noticed was how upset the other male was. Lance saw the half-Garlan curled up in a little ball on one of the cots that were for him and Shiro to sleep on. Lance almost immediately recognized the signs before him. The last time that he had seen Keith like that was during the time that Shiro was ‘missing.’ And even now Keith still looked a whole lot better back than he does now. Lance knew that he had to do something about this, he just couldn’t let Keith suffer through this on his own. The Red Paladin got up from his place on the floor and slowly walked over to his leader. He stopped right in front of him, from the little experience that Lance has had with helping Keith through his panic attacks he knew to not over crowd him. The more over crowded that Keith felt the more he freaked out and in turn it just made everything that much worse for him. “Hey Keith..” Lance said softly. The only sign that he got that told him that Keith had heard what he was saying was a jerky nod of the elder’s head. “Can I come near you man?” Lance asked him. “I promise I’m not going to do anything okay, we’re going at your pace just like we used to, but I just want to make sure you’re alright first.” He waited for what felt like forever before Keith gave him an answer. At first Lance was worried that he was just going to have to go ahead and do something since he was very concerned with how rapid and choppy Keith’s breathing was. Eventually, Lance did get a shaky nod of his head, signaling for him to come closer. And he took it. 

Even though Lance was happy that he could get closer to Keith, he had to go about it carefully. He knew that if he went in too overzealous then Keith would just shut down and kick him out. And that was not what Lance wanted to happen, he wanted to be able to help his friend, not make things even worse for him. So it was best for everyone to take things as slow as they could go, even if it sucked to do so. Gingerly, Lance sat on the far end of the cot, next to the wall to give Keith enough space as he could so he wouldn’t feel trapped and still had an escape route if he wanted one. The two of them sat together in silence for a couple of minutes, and Lance was counting and monitoring every breath that Keith was taking in that short amount of time and it was really too much. Lance decided that he better do something quick or else Keith was probably going to pass out on him. “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong if you really don’t want to.” Lance started out with. “But just remember that I’m here for you dude okay? We’re friends, co-leaders, comrades in arms, whatever you want to call it. But Keith I am here for you okay? I’m here, I’ll listen, and I hope that you can get that through your thick mullet eventually.” Lance told him. And he’s not really sure what he said, but whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick, because it was like the Hoover Dam busted or something. Keith just turned and launched himself at Lance and clung on, and just started bawling his eyes out. This was something that Keith hasn’t done in a long time. Lance just wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist and held on for dear life to try and show him that he was there. They spent the next couple of Vargas in each other's arms, while Keith cried, and Lance did and said everything that he could think of to try and calm the Black Paladin down. It seemed to be working somewhat, hopefully..? In all honesty Lance had absolutely no idea what he was doing and was just praying to anyone who would listen to him out there for this to work, or some more back up. He certainly needed it. 

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When Keith had finally stopped crying, he didn’t make any move at all to extract himself from Lance’s arms, nor did he try to do anything to push Lance away from him. If anything at all, he just seemed to hold onto the Red Paladin even tighter than he did beforehand. Lance just let him soak up as much comfort as he could. While Keith did that, Lance was really trying very hard to spontaneously combust. This was the closest that Keith has let Lance get to him in a very long while in a physical sense. This was also the longest that Keith has ever let Lance touch him in one full go. Needless to say that Lance was a very happy camper at that news. Anyway, Lance knew that he had to keep himself under control and in a calm and relaxed mindset or else he was going to set Keith off again, and they’d just be back to where they started to begin with. And looking down at Keith in his arms(Somebody pinch him!,) he looked like he was asleep, but Lance could still tell that he was awake by the way that he was breathing. His breathing wasn’t as slow as Lance would have liked it, but it was a whole lot better than it was before so he was just going to take it and roll with it. “Keith?” Lance questioned softly. He wanted to make sure that he was alright, but he also was afraid that his friend had just fallen asleep, and he could have potentially woken him up. Lucky for him Keith grunted back in acknowledgement and he didn’t seem to be too upset with him for trying to talk, though the night cycle was still young.  


Eventually Keith did in fact pull back from their weird embrace of sorts. Lance tried not to show the hurt outwardly on his face at the action. He knew that it was just best to let Keith do what he wanted or what he felt like he needed to do. Though he did feel good that Keith was still touching him and was trying to keep some sort of physical contact with him. What was really bugging Lance though was that Keith was looking at him weirdly. Lance just couldn’t describe the look other than the fact that it was intense, and it invoked some sort of emotion from him. Now, he just really wanted to take Keith, wrap him up in bubble wrap, put a blanket around his shoulders and never let him go ever again. The two of them just stared at each other in a tense awkward silence, neither one of them really knew what to do at the moment. They ended up breaking eye contact, and Keith’s gaze fell to something on the floor. Lance was confused for a moment and followed his gaze to ground and realized what he was looking at. When Kosmo had jumped him, and teleported him into Black, he had Keith’s sketchbook in his hand and Keith didn’t know he had it. “Lance?” Keith asked, and his voice was just so void of anything that Lance couldn’t tell if he upset or not. “Yes?” He asked. “Why do you have my sketchbook?” And Lance knew that he was screwed. 

Lance didn’t say anything for a couple of ticks. He was just watching Keith for a few moments, trying to see if he was upset or anything, but Keith’s whole body was just ambiguous. Deciding that he had nothing else to lose, Lance figured that he might as well just go ahead and bite the bullet. “Yes, that’s your’s I guess, you’re initials are KAK right?” Lance asked him. And Lance saw Keith freeze, and he turned to him, and Lance wasn’t sure if Keith had a look of horror, or a look of panic on his face. More likely than not it was all of the above, and then some. “You know I never knew what the ‘A’ stood for, and I finally learned the last time that he hailed each other over the video comms.” Lance said just as a way to keep them talking. “Akira’s a very pretty name and it fits you perfectly, if it makes you feel any better.” It looked like Keith had stopped breathing for a couple of ticks and Lance was starting to worry about him. “H-How,.. How did you find it?” Keith asked him softly. And if Lance wasn’t sitting so close to him then he wouldn’t have been able to have heard him. “Okay, you have to promise me not to laugh at me when I tell you this.” Lance said and then just went on before Keith could say anything to him. “I missed you after you left for the Blade, like a lot.” Lance said. “ So I used to go into your room, and just sit there and pretend that you were still there.” He told him. “One time I knocked over your pillow by accident and saw the sketchbook.” Lance said. “I didn’t know if it was yours or not and just started flipping through it.” He said. “You’re a very good artist Keith.” Lance told him. He was hoping that if he ended his rant with a compliment then maybe Keith wouldn’t kill him too badly, hopefully.  


Keith just sat there stunned for a couple of ticks. His mind was reeling, he never intended for anyone to ever see those drawings. The only person that knew that he could draw had been Shiro, and by the time that they had gotten to space, the elder hadn’t been in the best place to check and see if he was still doing it or not. But then panic flickered into his mind, Keith had drawn a lot in that black book. Almost every page was filled if it wasn't already. And the thing that Keith drew the most was Lance himself, the one who went flipping through it. And to make matters worse, he couldn’t remember if he tore out the last drawings of Lance that he did before he left for the Blade. “You saw all of them?” Keith asked in a small voice. Lance slowly nodded his head at him, and Keith felt like his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. Before he could stop himself, he jumped up and off of the cot and away from Lance. He just started pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair, he felt like he was on the verge of another panic attack. Lance just sat back and watched for a little bit, he knew that if he tried to go over now and try to calm Keith down, it’ll just amp him up even more and they didn’t need that. “Look, Keith if it makes you feel any better, they’re really good, like really, really, good.” Lance told them. “ I think like the best one that you did was the Japanese Blossom drawing you did.” He told him. Keith just looked at him with a dumbstruck look. Keith was standing here freaking out because Lance just saw all of the pictures that Keith has drawn of him, and here Lance was talking about flowers?! Was Lance just this dense?! Or was he humoring Keith so that he won't have another melt down? 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Keith asked him incredulously. Lance flinched a little bit at Keith’s tone, but otherwise didn’t do anything. He could tell that Keith was getting upset now. “I mean, I’m just talking about how good you are at drawing.” Lance said in his defense. “Why are you so embarrassed about them?” He asked him. Keith was really contemplating either pulling his hair out or strangling Lance. He just hasn't’ decided what to do yet. “Was there any tears in the sketchbook from any pages being ripped out?” Keith asked him guardedly. Lance nodded his head. “Yeah there were a bunch of them, I always wondered what they were about.” He told him. ‘You.’ Keith thought to himself. All of those pictures missing were of him. Keith felt himself relax a little bit at the thought that he did in fact remember to tear all of those out in case Lance found them. Turns out his paranoia wasn’t unfounded after all. “Are we friends?” Keith asked him out of nowhere. Keith wanted to kick himself for being so impulsive still, but he couldn’t help it, his nerves were shot and he was running an adrenaline high, and he wanted answers. He just didn't know if the ones he'll get will be the ones that he wanted or not. 

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“Are we friends?” That question really shocked Lance. Not for any bad reason though, he just didn’t expect Keith to blurt it out like that. And it made some of his old insecurities rear their ugly heads at him. Does this mean that Keith doesn’t see him as a friend? Or was he just over reacting? Lance just really hopes that he’s overreacting. “ Of course we’re friends.” Lance tried to tell him as confidently as he possibly could. He hoped that he was convincing enough, but from the look on Keith’s face he didn’t really think so. “If we’re friends then why do you hate me?” Keith asked him bluntly. Before Lance could go on, Keith just kept going. “Ever since we’ve been out here, you always had to one up, you goading me into some of the stupidest fights in my life, and no matter what I tried to do, you just kept getting more antagonizing towards me.” Keith told him. “This whole time all that I wanted to do was to be your friend.” Keith said. “I’m not like you Lance,” Keith told him. “I can’t just walk up to someone and start talking to them and become their friend like you can.” Keith said. “People scare me, and I can’t understand them no matter how hard I try to, they make me anxious and scared, and sometimes it gets so bad I want to puke.” Keith told him. “I admit that I’m not the best with people, and sometimes I come off as rude, and pushy, and I know that I have a resting bitch face and everything, but I try.” Keith told him. “I know that I’m not perfect, but what did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?” He asked him. "Do I mean so little to you that you thought I wasn't important enough for you to tell me that you DIED?!" Keith screamed at him. "How did you find that out?" Lance asked him. "Shiro told me." Keith told him. "He had a dream one night where he was still in Black, and that's what he saw." Keith said. And he was crying now, and God, Lance hated it when he cried. "You left me too, just like everyone else does." Keith said. "Am I that unlovable, hell you didn't even realize that the reason that all of those pictures were torn out of my sketchbook was because they were of you?!" Keith just put his head in his hands and turned away from him to pace. 

Lance just stood there, completely and utterly floored by what he had just heard. He never knew that Keith felt that way before. Lance had never intended his pranks, and arguing with Keith to be malicious or anything. He was just desperate to get Keith’s attention, and had no problem doing anything to get it, even if it meant pissing the other off. He loves Keith, even though he hasn’t told the other that, and he never wants to see the other upset or saddened at all. And Keith felt very strongly about this, and yet he had never told anyone. He knew that he should have told Keith that he had died, but he didn't want to. He had the bullshit excuse that he just wanted to protect Keith. But in reality, he just didn't want to deal with it himself. “Hate you?” Lance questioned. “I never hated you Keith, I don’t think that I ever could.” He told him. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel any differently.” Lance apologized. “Then why did you act like that?” Keith asked him. He had finally stopped pacing the room, and had stopped and stood in front of Lance as he explained himself. “I just wanted your attention.” Lance told him honestly. “I know it sounds stupid and juvenille, but you were the best of the best at anything you did. You were the top of our class for years.” Lance told him. “I couldn’t get into fighter class until you freaked out after Shiro went missing and they kicked you out for taking out Iverson’s eye!”He told him. “Which by the way, you were a traumatized kid, who had just lost the only family that you had for a long time, and they should have handled that better than they did.” He mentioned to him.“I just.. I just wanted to be your friend too, and no matter what I did or say I could never get you to talk to me.” Lance admitted. “I thought that you hated me, or thought that I was beneath you.” He explained. “So I figured that if I proclaimed us rivals, and pissed you off enough then at least you’d talk to be, even if you were pissed off and yelling.” He told him. "And I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you what happened when we were fixing the Omega Shield." Lance told him. "I can give you the bullshit excuse that I didn't want to upset you, that I wanted to protect you." Lance told him. "But the truth is that I just didn't want to deal with it." Lance explained to him. "That really messed me up, and I would just rather forget that it even happened, and didn't take into account on your feelings for this." Lance told him. "And I am very apologetic about it." He told him. When Lance looked up Keith was just staring at him with that weird, fond look again. 

“What?” Lance asked him. “Lance, do you know the reason why I would never talk to you?” Keith asked him. Lance eagerly nodded his head to that question. “Like I said before, I’ve never been much of a people person, and I have very lacking social skills.” Keith said. “I wanted to talk to you, but every time I get near you or vice versa I felt like I was going to throw up.” Keith told him. “Lance you used to make me so nervous that Shiro was really considering taking me out of the Garrison, or putting me in a different program so I would stop throwing up on his boots after each class that I had with you.” Keith confessed. And Lance was very surprised, he never knew that before. “We’ve been so stupid this whole entire time!” Lance said after it all sunk in. “We could have been friends this whole entire time, if we had just gotten our head out of our asses and talked to each other!” Keith just nodded his head in response. The two of them just started laughing at each other hysterically. It got to the point that both of them ended up falling back onto the cot, and just laid there with each other, smiling like lunatics for a very, very long time.  


“So.” Lance said as he turned on his side to face Keith. He liked the view since he could see his friend smile again. He loved looking at Keith's smile, he thought that it was one of the most beautiful things about him. “I made you nervous?” He asked him. Keith didn’t look at him directly, he just shrugged. “Yeah, yeah you did..” Keith said. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair, but Lance stopped him. “Hey, don’t do that, you’re just going to get your hair in knots.” he told him gently as he moved his hand away. Keith, surprisingly let him and just moved to where he was also on his side, so that he could fully see Lance himself. “I...I tried to open up to people before I was at the Garrison, and it didn’t work out well.” Keith told him. “Who?” Lance asked him. “You don’t have to tell me though if you don’t want to.” Keith just shrugged at him. “No, I don’t mind, remember James Griffin?” Keith asked him. “You mean that prick that you punched our first year at the Garrison?” Lance asked. Keith nodded his head. “Yeah him. I had a huge crush on him way before the Garrison since we used to go to the same school.” Keith said. “I was scared to get near him, and Gloria had pushed me to talk to him.” He said. “Everything was going okay until it wasn’t and James just froze me out.” Keith told him. “He started ignoring me until we got to the Garrison, then he used everything that he knew about me as a way to tease me, until I punched him and that shut him up for the most part.” “Well, I never really liked that prick in the first place so good job dude.” Lance told him. That just got a laugh out of Keith. Another thing about Keith that Lance liked was his laugh. 

================================================================================ 

The two of them ended up laying next to each other on Shiro’s bed cot for an undetermined amount of time just talking to each other. They told stories about each other, and stuff that they had done in their childhoods. Mainly, it was just Lance talking about anything and everything to make Keith laugh. Keith was just smiling and laughing, and he’s never felt this happy in a long time. It was nice and peaceful being with Lance and he really doesn’t want this to end. He likes Lance, he likes being around Lance, and doing things with him. And it really didn’t help that Lance had started playing with his hair and Keith really felt like he was about ready to fall asleep any minute now. It was pure bliss, and for once Keith just didn’t want things to end. He didn’t want to run away anymore, he just wanted to stay wrapped up in Lance’s arm for the rest of time and never leave them. 

“Hey Keith?” Lance questioned him. Even though he had his eyes closed as Lance was still running his fingers through his hair, he was still awake. He hummed in response and opened his eyes to see what the other wanted. “I have another question for you, and you can tell me to eff off if you want to or whatever I won’t be mad I promise.” Lance said. “But who’s Gloria, I’ve heard you mention her a couple of times before and I was just wondering who she was.” Lance said. Keith forze for a couple of seconds. He knew that he would inevitably have to tell the rest of the team, Lance included, about Gloria. He just didn’t think that it would be now. But he trusted Lance, and he wasn’t like James, and Lance is good to him, and he helps him, and Lance is his friend so why not. “Gloria was the best.” Keith said. “She was my favorite guardian that I had before I met Shiro.” Keith told him. “I lived with her for about a year or so, and it was nice, she was trying to adopt me too.” He said. Keith paused and turned away from Lance so the other couldn’t see the tears bundling in his eyes. “Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Lance said as he rubbed Keith’s back in soothing circles. Keith turned back to him and just shook his head. “NO, I want to, you deserve to know the truth, and I trust you Lance.” Keith said. “ I’m just going to apologize in advance because this gets pretty messed up from here.” Keith told him. And then he went and told him everything, every horrid detail of that night. He just kept talking and talking, even though he started crying at one point. He just kept going, he knew that if he stopped then he wouldn’t be able to keep going so he just powered through. Lance, the good soul that he is, just laid there silently and listened to him. He let Keith get everything off his chest and just listened to him, like no one has ever done in a very, very long time. 

Once he was done, Keith still had tears streaming down his face. He wasn’t completely hysterical though, either he was getting better at explaining this to people or having Lance here was a really soothing presence and sense of comfort for him. He wiped at his eyes and turned to look at Lance. The other male also had tears streaming down his face, and he looked like a mixture of complete and utter devastation, and unbridled rage. Keith has never seen Lance like that before, and he found it kind of attractive. Lance just reached out and pulled Keith closer to where he was resting on the other’s chest, his head over Lance’s heart. Lance was still rubbing his back and was playing with his hair. It made Keith feel really calm. Lance didn’t say anything though, which kind of worried him, though he’s glad that Lance didn’t do the standard ‘I’m so sorry, I wish that I could have.. ‘ that he’s been hearing for years. Not hearing anything at all actually gave him more peace of mind than he ever had before. Keith was just starting to drift off to sleep when he heard Lance whisper something in his ear. Lance must have thought that he was asleep or something. “Te amo Keith, de verdad, de verdad te amo mi gatito. Haré todo lo que pueda para protegerte de ahora en adelante. No me importa lo que sea, lo que sea que tenga que hacer lo haré. Te amo Keith Akira Kogane, y te amaré hasta el día de mi muerte. Eres todo para mí, nena.” Keith had no idea what he was saying but it sounded very soothing, and comforting in Spanish, and before he realized it he had fallen asleep. The last thing that he can kind of remember is Lance humming some song in Spanish that he didn't know the name of. God, did he love this boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Klance!   
> Here's what Lance said in English:   
> I love you Keith, I really, really love you my kitten. I'll do anything and everything that I can to protect you from now on I don't care what it is, whatever I have to do I'll do it. I love you Keith Akira Kogane, and I'll love you to my dying day. You're it for me babe. 
> 
> Have a nice day!   
> -N.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more Klance. Shiro the worried Dad, Kosmo the matchmaker, Team Punk, and Altean family bonding, and then some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, hope that you all enjoy! Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 7

Lance couldn't believe what he had just heard. He was stunned, appalled, outraged, disgusted(not at Keith, never), and if he didn't have Keith laying on top of him at the moment then he's pretty sure that he would have puked by now. He was just so... he didn't even have any words to describe his feelings at the moment. All that he knew with any clarity was that he will never let Keith out of his sight ever again. Lance can remember being a little boy and being sat down by his parents and grandparents and being told life lessons. They told him that not everyone that he would encounter in his life would want to be his friend. He can remember his mother saying that there were a bunch of bad people out in the world. They told him that he might encounter some people like this in his lifetime, and if he does then to be careful. For some of the bad people out there would do anything to hurt him, especially since they didn't care, and some even took great pleasure in doing so if he was a little kid. Lance headed their warnings, oh did he head them. The stories that his family told him gave both him, and his twin sister Rachel nightmares for a whole month at the very least. It was awful, and he was so scared. But as he got older and people came and went in his life, he got less afraid. Though he knew more of the evils of the world, Lance thought that 'the bad people' as his family called them, were never going to get to him. Well, he thought that until Keith told him otherwise just now. And it just pulled the rug out from underneath his feet. 

Never in a million years would Lance ever thought that something like that would happen to Keith. It just didn't seem possible, Keith was like invincible in his eyes, and nothing bad could ever happen or keep him down for long. But even those that we put up on a pedestal can still fall from the great heights. Lance never knew that Keith had been sexually assaulted when he was a child. Looking back now at some of Keith's actions and responses to certain things. Why he would get angry out of nowhere, and how he didn't like to be touched or anything. It explained partially why he's so closed off to people, and how he just stays away. Lance doesn't blame him though, if what happened to Keith happened to him too, then Lance doesn't know how he would react to it all. The information was all just very overwhelming. Keith told him that before he went to live with Shiro, he lived with a woman by the name of Gloria. From what Keith has told him, she was a lovable and wonderful woman. She was also an orphan and a foster child like they thought that Keith was. She was funny, and out-going, sarcastic, sassy, and had a temper that could rival his own. In other words they got along really well, and Keith really loved her and cared about her. She was who Keith went to when he figured out that he was gay, she was who Keith went to when he had his first crush(Also James Griffin, ew.) and she helped Keith out with anything that he needed. Keith loved living with her, and it was one of the happiest times of his life. 

That is until 'he' entered the picture. The only thing that Keith didn't like about living with Gloria was her boyfriend Roger. He was, in Keith's own words, "A big, smelly, meatheaded grease monkey who couldn't tell a spark plug from a tailpipe." He really gave Keith the creeps, and he just wanted him gone, but he didn't say anything so Gloria wouldn't be upset. Roger seemed to make her happy, and Keith didn't want to ruin it and be sent away so he kept his mouth shut and just ignored the guy as much as he could. And it seemed to work for a while at least,.. Roger had proposed to her about 3 months before things went to shit, and they all seemed to be very happy. Until one night... Keith had gone to bed. From what he told Lance he can still remember it all these years later like it just happened yesterday. It was a Friday night, which Keith always loved since that meant they got pizza for dinner. It was late at night and he had just gone to bed for the night. He couldn't have been asleep for more than two hours when it happened. Keith had woken up when he felt a large weight land on top of him. It knocked the air right out of his lungs and Keith woke up in shock. He woke up to Roger on top of him,.. Keith said that he never saw him like that. He had this strange, malicious, almost psychotic look in his eyes, and it scared Keith a little bit. And Keith had every right to be so. He tried fighting back as much as he could, but Roger was a 6'2, 250 some lbs man, and Keith was still a scrawny little kid even though he could hold his own in a fight. Keith said that he had this little bedside alarm clock on his nightstand, and he looked at it the whole entire time it happened. He counted every minute, and it took 15 minutes before Gloria came into the room. And that was when all hell broke loose. 

Gloria must have gotten up in the middle of the night when she woke up and Roger wasn't in the room. She probably had gone to check on Keith to make sure that he was okay when she walked in on a nightmare. Keith said that he doesn't remember much of what happened next, but it was horrific in Lance's opinion. Gloria had started screaming at Roger. Things along the line of "What the Hell are you doing you bastard?!" And "Get the EFF off of him you monster!" She then tried to lunge at Roger to pry him off of Keith. She didn't make it that far before Roger got off of him, and moved and hit Gloria across the face. He had forgotten about Keith for a moment and had moved on to pounding into Gloria. And Keith, who could barely move because he was in so much pain was able to get to his phone that he had hidden underneath his pillow and called 911. He didn't say anything, just let the operator hear everything that was going on at the moment. Keith got off of the bed, and tried to get Roger off of Gloria. Which didn't really do anything except get Keith punched and thrown across the room, and his head slammed into a wall. He blacked out after that, and the last thing that he remembers is Gloria simultaneously streaming, and swearing at Roger to stop as she fought back, and trying to reassure Keith at the same time that everything was going to be alright. When he woke up 5 hours later in the hospital, he was met with 2 police detectives to answer questions. He later found out that aside from the obvious of him being assaulted, Gloria was dead. Roger had killed her not that long after he had knocked Keith out. The police had just gotten there not that long after she was already dead. He had strangled her, and went to the kitchen and had gotten a butcher knife, and stabbed her multiple times. There was nothing that the paramedics could do. Roger himself was dead also, he had died in a shootout with the police when he had resisted arrest. He was dead and he couldn't hurt him anymore. But that still didn't change anything that happened. Keith had just lost the only person who really cared about him. It broke Lance's heart when he told him.  


But it explained a lot of Keith's behaviors, and how he acted with other people. And it just made Lance soo angry. He knows that sometimes Keith isn't exactly the most pleasant person to be around, and that he can be hotheaded, temperamental, cocky, and a bit too blunt about somethings, and very oblivious about others. Though while he was a little bit backwards about some things compared to other people, that didn't mean that he deserved a fate like this though. No one ever deserves something like this to happen to them. Looking down at the meaa of ink balck hair on his chest, it still boggles his mind that someone, who was supposed to love, and protect Keith, and Gloria, the woman who he thought of as a second mother to him, went and did that. Lance is glad that he's dead. He can never hurt Keith again, or anyone else, and it saved Lance the trouble of killing him that the police did. Now he can focus all of his energy on protecting Keith and making sure that nothing bad ever happens to him again. Lance was idly running his fingers through Keith's hair, and playing with it as a way to calm him down so that he could sleep. It was something that his Abuela used to do to his Papi, and it was something that he and his Mama' used to do to him and his siblings as well. It always did the trick and it seemed to be doing the same thing for Keith. He really hoped that Keith was having the rest that he deserved. For he was going to need it once they got back to Earth. Lance himself was worried though, they didn't know how this was going to play out, and they were going to make it out alive. Right then and there Lance swore to himself that if they made it out alive, then he was going to do it. He was going to tell Keith how he really felt, how he was in love with him. He doesn't care anymore, the fear of rejection is nothing compared to the fear of losing Keith, or anyone else to this senseless violence. It all ends now, and by God as his witness no one else was going to die on his watch. 

================================================================================ 

Shiro was very confused right now. Though that wasn't saying a whole lot since he's had his original body disintegrated, his conscience put into a sentient mechanical, magical Black Lion. Then it was pulled out of the Lion and put into the body of his clone. And that doesn't even take into an account of everything else that he's been put through in space. So to put it all bluntly, he's been confused for a while now. But this is something completely different. One minute he was sitting next to his little brother trying, and failing to calm him down from a panic attack, then his little brother's cosmic space wolf goes, and jumps him, and the next thing that he knows he's in a different lion. The Red Lion since he looked up and saw Lance looking back at him like he had two heads. Then all of a sudden Lance was gone too. Shiro just laid there for a couple of seconds and let the shock wear off. Then he was up and looking around, trying not to panic. He was just left alone in the Red Lion by himself might he add, having no connection to Red whatsoever, with both of the Paladins who have piloted him that were still alive in another Lion. And the only way for him to get to and from and back to Keith is who knows where. He's not panicking at all, he swears. 

Looking around, Shiro was kind of scrambling for something to do. He had to get back to Keith his little brother was in the midst of a panic attack when Kosmo came and took him to Red. Everything was just really crazy and overwhelming and he just needed to get back to Keith. His little brother was having one of the most severe and horrifying panic attacks that he’s ever seen. He was a little bit on edge but he knew that he had to stay calm or else he would neer get anything done, and he wouldn’t be able to help Keith at all. Taking a few deep breaths to try and re-center himself, Shiro headed over to the control panel. If he had no idea what was going on, the least that he could do is to try and ping the Black Lion to try and check on Keith, or try one of the other Lions to see where Lance was. Just as soon as he got to the pilot’s chair, he got knocked down on his ass yet again. Once he was able to get the air back into his lungs, Shiro looked up and saw all of the blue fur in his face. It’s not that he didn’t like dogs or anything, but he was more of a cat person he admits. And one of the only reasons that he’s not killing Kosmo right now, is that it would crush Keith. And Shiro couldn’t do that to him. Another reason is that Kosmo is like the only one who knows what the hell is going on and where everyone is. He can give Shiro the answers that he needs. 

“Alright fido.” Shiro said in his ‘leader’ voice. “What did you do?” He asked him. Kosmo, who was sitting on his chest just stared at him and wagged his tail. And Shiro swears that the wolf was smirking at him. He just kept thinking about how much he loves his adoptive little brother, it was the only way that he was going to get out of this without killing the wolf. Keith would be crushed if something happened to Kosmo. He loves the wolf, and is very, very attached to him. Shiro didn’t want to be the cause of Keith’s unhappiness as all. He just has to be patient about it, and he will get the answers that he’s looking for. After about 5 minutes of staring at each other, Shiro got Kosmo off of him, and moved back to try and hail the Black Lion. Tentatively, he sat down in the pilot’s chair of Red, and started pushing buttons. He figured that he was lucky that Red didn’t just shut down on him when he started messing around. And with how screwed up he’s been with everything that’s happened he can’t tell if he still has a connection to Voltron or not. If he was with it in his new body then he would know that Red, and Black were trying to calm him down, by trying to reassure him that Keith was okay. Lance had him, and nothing bad was happening to either one of them. But he wasn’t so he didn’t get the memo. 

Luckily for Shiro, the two lions got the message that he wasn’t really with it at the moment and helped him out some to try and ease his worries. While Shiro was still trying to get into contact with Black or one of the other lions, a screen popped up in front of him. Shiro pauses in his actions to turn his attention to what was on the screen. He was partly surprised and partly relieved to see that it was a feed into the Black Lion. He was relieved to see Keith, and Lance together, his little brother was wrapped up in the Red Paladin’s arms. The two of them were lying down on his cot, and Keith seemed to be asleep, while Lance was carding his fingers through the elder’s hair. Everything seemed to be okay, which was a huge relief for the former leader of Voltron. Though he was surprised to see that Kosmo had made him and Lance trade places with each other. He knew that Keith and Lance were getting along better the more time that the two of them spent together, but at the same time Shiro still found it weird. One of the reasons that he found it weird was that he knew how much of a crush Keith had on Lance. And with how awkward Keith can be with regular people that he knows, it’s surprising to see him so calm and relaxed that he fell asleep on someone that wasn’t him, Kosmo, or Krolia. He turned to look down at Kosmo, it finally sunk in for him what the wolf was doing. He turned his body so his only hand would come down to pet him on the head. “Good boy,” He said. “Just don’t let Keith figure out what you did okay boy?” And he swears that the wolf had a shit eating grin on his face. 

============================================================================= 

Now, Hunk is one to admit that out of all of the members on Team Voltron, he is not the bravest. Though he will admit that he’s pretty brave in his own right, and has improved greatly on that since coming to space. He’s no longer the scared engineer who could get motion sick just by standing still. No, he’s a Paladin of Voltron, and he hasn’t gotten motion sick in a long, long while. But compared to the rest of the team, he’s still the team scaredy cat. He can’t help it that he still prefers to air on the side of caution when it comes to things, instead of running in head first. He can’t help it, he likes to be cautious. Growing up, his parents always taught him that it’s better to be safe than sorry. And that’s something that stuck with him, and just followed him through his life. But hey. It’s gotten him this far. 

Which brings him to the current topic of his thoughts. He was a little bit more nervous than he usually was. Which wasn’t saying a whole lot, because he was nervous a lot of the time. But the reason for being nervous this time was different than all of the others. He was nervous,.. He was scared about going home. Like so many people have said before him, they don’t know what they’re going to walk into when they land on Earth. Everything could be fine, it could not, they don’t know. And the uncertainty of whether or not his family was okay scared the complete and utter crap out him. He wanted to know if his family was okay. He wanted to know that nobody was hurt or dead. Hunk was like Lance, he wanted to walk in and see his family and pretend like nothing ever happened. Though he knows that it’s impossible to do that, can't a guy still dream though? 

Besides worrying about his family,... Hunk was also very concerned about Shay. Even though they hadn’t been to the Balmera in a very long time before they faced off with Lotor, Hunk was worried about her. They still found ways to keep in touch with one another after his second time on the Balmera where the Robeast tried to kill them all. Pidge helped him rig something up on their communicators so that they could talk. He really liked talking to Shay, she made something, giddy pile up in him. She was like a breath of fresh air for Hunk whenever things got rocky out here. Shay always knew what to say to him to make him feel better. And Hunk liked that he could make her laugh. He also liked to answer all of her questions that Shay had about life on the surface. They could talk for Vargas about life on the surface, and Shay liked it when he talked about living on Earth. It was a safe thing to say that Hunk was in love with her. Shay was one of his reasons to keep going and end this. He just wanted to do whatever it took to get this over with so that he can go back to his family, Shay, and the rest of his friends could just go back to normal. But sadly, that’s not how things go. 

And since he knew that he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Which is why he wasn’t that surprised when he got an incoming transmission from Pidge. Over their time in space, the two of them have gotten very, very close with one another. He views her as a little sister. Hunk knows that he would do anything for the young Green Paladin, and so would everyone else. With Pidge being the youngest out of all of them, it would only make sense that they’ve all become very protective over her. And yes, Pidge can take care of herself very well, Hunk and the rest of them know this for a fact. But he still can’t help but want to protect her from the rest of the world. And they all know that Pidge hates it, especially since they’ve all met Matt by this point except for Romelle, and they a;; have formed sort of a ‘Pidge Protection Squad.’ What can they say, they all love their Green Paladin to death.  


“What’s up Pidge?” Hunk asked her as he accepted the call. Pidge’s face popped up onto the screen, and she looked a little bit disheveled. Her glasses were crooked on her face, and her hair was a mess. She looked like she hadn’t slept in a couple of days, which she probably hadn’t knowing Pidge. Hunk made a mental note to talk to her about it later. “Oh, nothing much.” Pidge said. “Just checking in on you.” She told him. And another thing that he’s noticed about Pidge is that even though she’s the baby of the family she cares just as much about the rest of them as if she was the oldest. “That’s very sweet of you Pigeon.” Hunk said. And Pidge only rolled her eyes slightly at the mention of her own nickname. She really regrets letting the rest of them meet Matt sometimes. “What have you been up to?” Hunk asked her. Pidge just shrugged at him nonchalantly, which normally meant that she was up to something big. Both of them had been tingering here and there on their journey home and would often update each other on their project's progress. Hunk gave her a look that meant just spill it already. Pidge just grinned and went into a long tangent about her latest project. Hunk could only roll his eyes fondly at her. 

Pidge’s explanation lasted about 30-45 minutes in total. The gist of what she was telling Hunk was that it was something that could boost transmission signal on different sides of the galaxy. It was quite impressive in Hunk’s opinion, though he should expect that much from Pidge. From someone who is really young, Pidge is one of the smartest, if not the smartest person that Hunk knows. Some of the thoughts that go through her mind are so complex, and intelligently thought out so well, that it just left Hunk in awe. Somewhere in their discussion they had moved onto stories from their childhood and talking about their families. Hunk told her stories about all of the trouble that he used to get into with his older siblings and his mothers. It felt good, if a little bit bitter sweet thinking about them now. He just hoped that they were okay. Pidge was in the middle of telling him about some science experiment that went wrong that she did with Matt, when she just stopped all of a sudden. Hunk paused and looked at her to see what was wrong, when Pidge just burst out into tears. She wasn’t full on sobbing by any means, but Hunk could see the small trail of silent tears going down her cheeks. It then dawned on him that even though Pidge is probably the smartest one out of all of them, she was a kid. She was just a kid, out in space by herself without her parents or her brother. She was younger than all of them, and sometimes Hunk forgot that. 

“Hey, Pidge it’s okay.” Hunk said softly from the other side of the screen. It was then that he saw it dawned on her that she was crying, she was crying in front of Hunk. For a second there, Hunk thought that she was just going to cut the transmission and just freeze him out. Surprisingly she didn’t, which really shocked Hunk. “Really?” She asked him in a small voice. And it really made his heart hurt, Pidge was just a kid, she didn’t deserve to be out here, feeling like this. She should be home, back on Earth with the rest of her family, inventing to her little heart’s content, and dealing with typical teenage drama like the rest of the kids her age. But, she is here now, and there’s nothing that Hunk or any of them could do about it now. “Yeah, Katie.” Hunk told her in a gentle, yet firm voice. It was the voice that he used on his younger siblings, cousins, and nieces, and nephews whenever he tried to make them feel better. “I promise all of this is going to work out one way or another, and we’re going to go home, and see our families.” Hunk told her. And he meant it too. Pidge wasn’t one to openly show any emotions whatsoever, but to see her now, he would do whatever it took to make her smile, and see her happy again. “Thanks Hunk.” Pidge said softly. Hunk just smiled at her. “It’s no problem Pidge, anything for family.” And he meant it too. 

================================================================================ 

  


Allura was nervous, she was very, very nervous. But she was also upset with herself. She was a princess, she was a princess and the only surviving member of the Altean Royal Family. She couldn’t be nervous, she didn’t have time to be nervous! That wasn’t how she was raised. Her father, and mother when she was still alive had always taught her to take a deep breath and go in with a calm, cool, and clear head. Her mother always told her that going in with a hot temper in most cases will always make the situation way worse than it actually was to begin with. While her father did admit, that he was just a little bit too ‘passionate’ sometimes, that her mother was right. She always had to try and be as diplomatic as she could be, no matter how much the other party was grinding on her nerves. She was a princess and she was a representative of her people and she needed to set a good example for the people of Altea. Except now, there’s no more Altea. Zarkon made sure of that a long time ago. And for the longest time, she thought that only her, Coran, and the spice mice were the last ones left. Then they met Romelle, and she told them stories of the Altean Colony that Lotor created. It gave them a new hope for their people. And ever since then, Allura hasn’t been able to breathe properly. 

And on top of all of that she was the head of the Voltron Coalition, and she’s the Blue Paladin of Voltron. She had all of these responsibilities piled up on top of her, and sometimes it just felt like it was all going to fall on top of her and just crush her. Allura sighed as she sunk back into her pilot’s chair. Romelle, Coran, and all of the spice mice, along with the rest of the paladins had turned in for the night cycle a long time ago she supposes. They all had agreed to turn in early so that they could get as much rest as possible before they landed on Earth. She could tell that even though the rest of the Paladins were a little bit apprehensive about what state they were going to find their home in, they were all excited to go back. Allura, couldn’t really say the same thing for herself. Though it shouldn’t be anything new to her though. It wouldn’t be the first time that she’s stepped foot on a planet that she’s never been to before, and it probably won’t be the last. But something about this time is just different. Normally if she hadn’t been to a planet before, so had the other paladins. The only one who had ever been there before or knew what to do was Coran himself. And this time he was in the same boat as Allura and Coran. It never bothered her to be the odd species out before, but that was before traveling to the rest of the Paladins’ homeworld to where they were the majority and she was the minority. It just left her feeling very unsettled with herself, and she didn’t like it.  


Allura was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear the tiny pitter patter of feet crawling up to her counsel until the three space mice were right in front of her face. Allura jumped back a little bit and then calmed down when she realized who was there. “What are you three doing here?” Allura asked softly to herself. “Aren’t you supposed to be off getting your rest?” She asked them softly. “Well, they could be asking the same about you princess?” Allura jumped a little bit higher at hearing the sound of Coran’s voice behind her. She turned to find not only Coran, but Romelle as well standing in the doorway to the cockpit of the Blue Lion. She was a little surprised to see them there but she kind of figured that something like this was bound to happen. “Oh, Coran, Romelle, whatever are you two doing up this late?” Allura asked as she got up to greet them more properly. “We just came to check on you Allura.” Romelle said softly from behind him. And hearing the worry in both of their voices made her heart ache. She didn’t want to worry them. Coran was like a father to her, he was the only family that she had left, and she didn’t want to put more stress on him than she already has. And then there was Romelle. Allura couldn’t really put into words how she felt about the other female Altean. She was so excited to see that there were other Alteans out there. And she was even more excited to see that Romelle was not only female but she was around her age too, which just made the young princess even more giddy than she already was. Romelle just always knew what to do to calm her down. She helped Allura regain focus in a way that Coran could not do easily. Allura would say to herself and only herself that the way that she felt about Romelle was more than just platonic. 

“I was just up thinking.” Allura told them honestly. “I.. I am nervous about going to Earth.” Allura admitted. “I, I just don’t know what to do anymore.” And that just seemed to be the last straw. Allura felt her composure slipping and she just started crying. It didn’t take long for Romelle, Coran, and the spice mice to circle her in their arms. All of them just stood like that for forever. When they all pulled apart, Coran ushered the two girls to the area that they had set up as their sleeping area and tucked them into bed. He put Allura, and Romelle in the same bed, then he waited for the space mice to crawl in with them, before tucking all of them in. Right before Allura let all of the stress melt away, and succumbed to sleep, she heard Coran whisper that he loved her before kissing her on the forehead before going to sleep himself. And even though it didn’t fix everything, Allura knew that everything was going to work out in the end. She had enough faith in her team to say that confidently.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some more Klance. Then things get a little angsty, but there's a happy ending don't worry! If you are triggered by anything very heavy and serous topic wise head the warring tags. We talk about Keith's past with Gloria and Roger here, things get a little heavy so be warned and don't do anything that can cause any harm to you please!   
> -N.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter enjoy! I don't know when the next one is going to come out though. Sorry. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 8 

Keith's journey back to the land of the living was a slow, and easy going journey. Not all of it happened at once though, it was sort of like how they describe coming out of a coma or something in the movies. Slowly, one by one all of his senses came back to him. It was one of the most peaceful times that he has ever had in the morning. Normally he would just jerk awake from either a nightmare, or just lack of sleep in general. But this time was different, he came to softly, and slowly, and it felt nice, it felt really nice. Though it could also be because of this time he woke up really warm. At first he thought that it was just because either Kosmo or Shiro were in bed with him, since it wouldn't be the first time that it had happened. That was when all of his memories from the night before came flooding back to him. His panic attack, Shiro and Kosmo at a loss for what to do.. Then all of a sudden there was Lance, and he made everything better. And Keith opened his big mouth and told him _everything_! He felt so embarrassed, and panicked at the same time it was unbelievable. It then dawned on him that Lance never left after last night so that must have meant that he was still here with him, but he didn't know where. It clicked in his head suddenly why he felt so warm. Lance was still in bed with him. He spent the night with Lance!  


Keith shot out of bed like a bat out of hell, he moved so fast that he got tangled up in his sheets, and ended up tumbling to the floor. He landed hard on his elbow with a loud bang! It hurt but Keith was too lost in his head to really care. Though he overlooked the fact that his little tumble was loud enough to wake Lance up from his sleep. But what Keith didn't know though was that Lance really hadn't slept that much. After what Keith told him, Lance never got comfortable enough to really fall asleep. He dozed for a little bit every so often but other than that nothing much happened. He actually spent most of his night checking on Keith, making sure that the Black Paladin was comfortable and that he was sleeping soundly. He was startled out of his light dozing state when he heard a loud bang coming from his right. It jarred him enough that Lance leaned up on his elbows to see what all of the commotion about. He noticed that Keith was no longer laying on top of him anymore, and turned to scan the room for the missing Black Paladin. He didn't have to look that long before he found Keith Sprawled out on the floor. Well, at least he found him. Though in the back of his mind Lance knew that things were about to get interesting. 

"Keith?" Lance questioned softly. He moved to fully sit up so that he could get up. Keith, who must have been so lost in his own little world that he didn't realize that Lance was up until he heard his name get called, jumped about a good couple of feet up in the air. Lance was surprised that Keith didn't break a bone of something with how fast he shot up. Though once he was fully up right Keith lost his balance and smacked into a wall, hard. Lance winced in sympathy, that didn't sound good at all. Looking over at Keith he didn't seem to be hurt or anything, just a little bit dazed. Keith turned to look at Lance, and he had one of those deer caught in the headlights look. "..Lance?" Keith asked, and Lance swore to any sort of deity out there that Keith literally squeaked. And he won't admit it out loud for fear for his life that Keith sounded so adorable to him. "Hey man." Lance said calmly. "How's it going?" And Lance cringed inwardly at himself. That could have gone better.  


Keith was stunned, he was absolutely stunned. Here he was standing stock still like an idiot, with his heart beating so fast that it was trying to break out of his chest; and Lance was just acting like this was a casual conversation. When nothing about this situation at all was casual in the slightest. They spent the night together. And yes, Keith does realize they did no more than cuddle with each other but still, they shared the same bed for a whole night cycle. It may not have been that big of deal to some people, but to Keith it was. Especially since not only did he have one of his worst panic attacks in front of him, he also told him about his most traumatic childhood experiences ever. And somehow they ended up in the same bed together. That did things to Keith, and he didn't know what to do with them. He just hoped that this didn't change his and Lance's relationship forever. 

"Do... uh, do you remember any of last night?" Lance asked gently. He didn't want to freak Keith out or anything but he didn't know how to go about this, so he was really just grasping at straws here and hoped that this didn't blow up in his face. Keith stood before him frozen for what felt like forever before he moved. Dazed Keith nodded his head, and if he had the choice to then Lance is sure that Keith would have bolted to get away from him. Okay, Lance could deal with this. This wasn't like their bonding moment that he actually remembered for the most part but told Keith he didn't because he was still considered a baby bisexual then and had no idea what he was doing and thought playing dumb would do the trick. He can be honest with Keith since he's being honest with him and pray to God that this doesn't screw up their relationship any more than it already is.  


The two of them just existed in that awkward silence for a couple of more minutes. Neither one of them was really sure what they were supposed to be doing right now. The safest bet was to talk it out like the mature adults that they are, or the ones that they are supposed to be. Do they actually end up doing that? No, not in the slightest. In truth Keith and Lance fashion they do it in a messy, insane, and impulsive manner. "Okay, so don't be mad at me or anything, but remember our first 'bonding moment' when Sendak attacked the Castle when we first got into space?" Lance asked. He didn't wait for Keith to answer before he barreled on. He really wished right now that he thought to go and grab his ADHD meds before leaving the Garrison that night. It really would have helped him keep control of this situation. "Well, when I told you that I didn't remember any of it and it didn't happen, I might have been lying a little bit.." Lance said, and then retracted his statement. "Okay, I might have been lying a lot, like a lot, a lot." During all of this Lance had avoided making eye contact with Keith because he didn't want to piss the other off. Now he takes the chance and looks over at his leader. Big mistake, Keith really did a 180 on his personality. He just went from nervous wreck to oh my god he's a maniac on the loose and he's going to gut me, livid. Well, Lance and his big mouth at it again. 

================================================================================ 

Keith was absolutely floored. He didn't know what to do, or to say. Hell, he wasn't even really sure if he was able to breathe correctly at the moment, he was just so.. Lance remembered, he remembered the bonding moment where he cradled him in his arms. The moment where it really hit Keith how much he was in love with Lance when he thought that the other was going to bleed out in his arms, and he would never get to tell him. The asshole lied about all of it, this whole entire time. Keith was pissesd off beyond belief. How could Lance do this?! "You what?!" Keith asked him, trying and failing to keep his voice from shaking. He was pissed, and hurt, and anxious, and tired, and he really just wanted to strangle Lance to death, or to just wrap him up in his arms and never let him go. He knew the last one was due to his Garla genes, or at least that's what he was going to blame it on. Lance just sat there and stared at him sheepishly. Keith felt his blood boil and his blood pressure shoot through the roof.  


"You remember?" Keith asked him, and he didn't even care that his voice was shaking so bad that he could barely talk. He needed to get this out one way or another. "You remember, and you didn't tell me this?" Keith questioned him. He was vaguely aware that he was shaking at this point but he didn't care at this point, he was just mad. "You remembered all of this time and didn't bother to tell me?" Keith asked, his voice wet. Lance was up on his feet and next to Keith in a matter of moments. It took Keith a second to register Lance's movement. He could feel that Lance was hesitant to approach him, and touch him, probably because he thought that Keith would punch him or something. Though Keith really doesn't blame him one bit. If they both had been younger then Keith would have definitely had hauled off and hit Lance, at least one. He's more composed now than he was then. Though that doesn't change the fact that Keith is still very upset with him. It doesn't help him any that Keith feels like he's on some sort of emotional rollercoaster at the moment. He doesn't know why though, but he can remember his mother telling him that it's part of his carrier status. As it turns out, Garla Carriers have a hormonal cycle that they go through every couple of pheobs. It tends to make their usual sense of reasoning and emotional responses a bit haywire. Now looking back, that does explain a lot of his meltdowns and anxiety attacks that he had after he turned 12. 

"Hey, hey Keith don't cry please.." Lance started beggin after he came over and grabbed Keith by the arm. Keith was confused, he wasn't crying..? Keith brought one of his hands up to feel his face, and was surprised to find that it was wet. Well, he didn't really know what to do about that. "I'm sorry, okay, I'm really, really sorry." Lance apologized, and Keith could tell that he was really trying to be sincere about this even in his elevated hormonal state. He was not going to call this a 'period' or anything like Krolia did when she was trying to explain this to him the first time around. It was a hormonal cycle that every Garla Carrier went through until they reached a certain age. And no, he was choosing to ignore the fact that he's more likely to get pregnant if he has sexual relations during this time. It was gross, and weird, and Keith doesn't even care that he's acting like a little kid he doesn't want to talk about it right now or ever given the choice. Keith just shook his head at Lance, while wiping his face trying to get rid of the tears. Though he didn't try to shake Lance's grip off of him though. For some reason it was very comforting and grounding, even though he was pissed at him. 

The next thing that Keith knew, he was sitting back on the cot again, with Lance next to him. He had his head between his knees, while he was trying to get some more air into his stupid lungs that didn't want to work with him at the moment. He was aware of Lance tentatively rubbing soothing circles into his back, and could vaguely make out what Lance was trying to say to him. But it was really hard for Keith to do anything since it felt like he was swimming underwater. It took forever for Keith to calm down enough to be able to tell that he was in his own body, and work it accordingly. Through all of this though, Lance never left his side. He sat beside Keith and rode the attack out with him, never leaving his side and trying his best to comfort him in any way that he could. And Keith felt like kicking himself, because he knew that he was more likely to have another anxiety attack after last night. Always, no matter how big or small the attack was, Keith would be on edge all day the next day, and if he encountered a stressor or a trigger that could set him off, he'd go off. And this conversation with Lance fits into all of those categories. He was so stupid. 

"You're not stupid Keith." Lance told him suddenly. Keith jumped a little bit at the sound of his voice. And it was only then that Keith realized that he had said that last part out loud for Lance to hear. "Yes,.. Yes I am." Keith said. "I know that I had about a 50/50 chance of having another attack, especially after how bad the one last night was." He told him. "And yet I let myself get worked up enough to set myself off again." He said. God, Keith hasn't felt this emotionally out of it since he was a young pre-teen. He just wanted everything to go back to normal and just forget about this. "Keith, listen to me." Lance told him. Keith kept his head down and his eyes trained on the floor. He was still listening to Lance though, but he just couldn't look at him. He jumped a little bit when he felt a hand cup his face and tried to turn his head. "Look at me Keith, please." Lance begged him. "The only way that this is going to work is if you look at me dude." Keith sighed to himself. In the back of his mind he knew that Lance was right, but he was still scared about what this talk was going to do to their friendship. Keith knows that this sounds very dramatic, but he's pretty sure that if he had to spend the rest of his life without Lance in it in some way then he would surely die. But he also couldn't say no to Lance either. So he looked up, reluctantly.  


=============================================================================== 

_"Están esos hermosos ojos violetas que me encanta ver."_ Lance said as soon as he saw Keith's eyes lock onto him. Keith had no idea what the other male just said to him, but it still made him blush anyway. He just prayed that Lance didn't notice it, though it probably didn't work with how freaking pale he is, compared to Lance whose skin was a beautiful caramel brown. But he wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't make his heartbeat speed up a little bit. "Now, I know that you're mad at me, and I don't blame you for it at all, I know for a fact that if it was me then I would be very irate." Lance told him. "But, at the time I had a reason for not telling you." He said. "And before you go all, it's because I hated you, and you knew that you were right and that no one could ever love you, let me explain." Lance said. Keith couldn't do anything but just stare at the other. Lance took that as he cue to continue. "As you know I'm bisexual, and have had a suspicion about it for a while." Lance told him. Keith didn't know that all. He had thought that Lance was straighter than any board he's ever seen with how he had flirted with Allura, Nyma, Plaxum, Florna, and every other female alien that they had come into contact with. And Keith knows that the only reason that he didn't flirt with Pidge or Shay was because he thought one was a boy and he knew that his best friend was in love with the other one. This was new to him, though he didn't say anything about it because he didn't want to interrupt. 

"Anyway, when we were first out here, I knew that I like both male and female partners, but I was still a baby bisexual, and was in denial." Lance told him."I also realized that I had a certain type that I was attracted to, and it just sort of messed with my head." Keith was very confused at the moment, he had no idea where Lance was going with this. "What are you talking about Lance?" Keith asked him, and he was shocked at how shot his voice sounded. "I know I'm probably rambling now, but I'm giving you all of the info you need, so this might take a little while, so bare with me Mullet." Lance told him. "Now, where was I?" He asked himself. "Oh yeah! My ideal type I guess." Lance said. "Okay, well I came to find out that my ideal type was not necessarily human, but not alien enough to where they couldn't pass for human if they tried." Well, that took out a lot of options then, Keith thought to himself. "They are kind, caring, smart, smarter than they think they are." Lance listed off to him. "They're a good, no excellent leader, and take control of the room with their presence alone." Lance said. "They love everyone in their lives, even though they have some trouble expressing their emotions sometimes, and there's nothing wrong with that." Lance told him. "They're strong, passionate, kind of hot-tempered, but still really mellow at the same time." He told him. "I love watching them train, God, the things that they can do with a sword, it just does things to me, you know?" Lance questioned. Wait, does that mean Lance is in love with his brother? Because that's just who he described, or Allura, he hasn't figured that part out yet. Oh poor Keithy, he's so clueless, it's actually kind of cute. 

" I love how their inky black hair falls into their face, and how beautiful they look when you can just barely see their eyes." Lance said. "And I love how he has this beautiful mixture of blue, grey, and violet, to where it looked like it was this beautiful indigo color." He told him. Him? Lance's ideal type was a guy? Keith's heartbeat picked up a little bit, he's never seen Lance with another guy before. Keith's stomach was starting to turn into knots again. "And he's a very good artist, and I just love how his pictures come to life and it just invokes something in me you know?" Keith felt his heart stop at that moment. Was Lance talking about...? "And something that I really, really love about him are his initials." Lance said. Initials? What the hell does his initials have anything to do with this? Keith really hoped that he wasn't on the verge of another panic attack with how fast his heart was beating. "What... What are his initials?" Keith asked, breathless. He was really hoping that Lance was going to say what he wanted to hear, and at the same time terrified about what he was going to find out. "That's easy." Lance said. "The initials are K.A.K." Lance said with a straight face, and this fond look on his face. Meanwhile Keith was in panic mode. Those were his initials, Lance just said his initials, and thinking about it now, Lance just basically described him. Keith really felt like he was going to puke at the moment. This is too good to be true. 

Lance saw how Keith just froze. He kind of figured out that Keith would have this kind of reaction when he told him that he was attracted to him. Keith has never really been in a situation that he's felt like he was loved before. And Lance knew that Keith really did feel like he was unlovable and that no one would ever love him. After a couple of ticks, Lance figured that he might make sure that Keith was alright. "Keith?" Lance questioned softly. "Are you okay?" He asked him. That seemed to get Keith out of his head. "Do you mean it?" Keith asked in a small voice. Lance was shocked to hear that as an answer. He really thought that Keith would get mad and start yelling at him.This was different, very different. "Yes, I mean all of it." Lance said. "I mean everything that I say to you Keith, I'm not joking, and I'm not messing with you." He told him. Keith felt the air leave his lungs all at once. "You... You do?" Keith asked him, hopeful. Lance nodded his head. "Yeah, I do." Lance told him. 

Keith felt like he was on Cloud 9. Lance liked him, Lance liked him, and he meant it. After all of this time, the boy that Keith's been in love with ever since he was a pre-teen reciprocates his feelings. "Why didn't you tell me?" Keith asked him. He wasn't mad or anything at him anymore, he just wanted to know why. "I was scared, just like you." Lance told him. "I didn't know that you were gay until Hunk told me one day." Lance said. "How did you not know?" Keith asked him. Yes, Keith never came right out and said to all of them that he preferred men over women, but he also didn't try to hide it. And besides Pidge, and Shiro already knew, so he just didn't bother with it. "Well, sorry but I don't have that good of a gayday." Lance said. "I thought you were straight, but turns out you're just socially awkward." Lance told him. "But I'll give Hunk this, that man has the most attuned and accurate gayday out there." Lance told him. He just nodded his head at Keith and then went back to his story. "I was terrified that you would hate me, or mock me, or it would ruin everything." Lance said. And Keith could get behind that, it was the same reason that Keith had never told Lance either. He was petrified of the same thing or something worse happening to him. "I know that I probably should have discussed this with you earlier, and that now probably isn't the best time, but I just couldn't see you freaking out like this, and not doing something to make you feel better." Lance said. "In truth, the whole point of this is so that I can, I think that I'm in love with you Keith Akira Kogane." Lance told him. And Keith really did think that he was going to start crying at this point. Luckily, he was able to rein the tears in for now, because if he just started now then they'd never get anywhere. "I, I really think that I'm in love with you Lance Charles McClain." Keith told him. The two of them just looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Then the next thing that Keith knew, Lance had leaned over and kissed him. It felt like a bunch of fireworks set off in his stomach. He liked the feeling, he liked it a lot.  


================================================================================ 

What must have been at least an hour after the two of them woke up and had their little 'talk', Kosmo decided that they had enough time and brought himself and Shiro back. Keith and Lance were in the middle of 'talking' i.e. making out when they heard a loud pop sound throughout the room. The two new young lovers jumped and pulled apart from each other like they had been burned. Both of them had looks of panic on their faces at the notice of an intrusion on them. Lucky for them though it was just Kosmo and Shiro. They both were able to sit back and relax a little bit at the news. At least Keith was able to relax some, for Lance it was a different story, for he was sort of outnumbered here. He was in Keith's Lion, with Keith, the guy he liked, Shiro, Keith's older brother who is very protective, and Kosmo the loyal pet. Lance was screwed in this situation most likely. But hey, if Shiro kills him at least he got to make out with Keith for a little bit. 

"Shiro?" Keith questioned as he got up to check on his older brother who was laying on the floor. Lance was right behind him though, but he stood a little bit back to not make it obvious. He was concerned about Shiro too, but he didn't want to make it obvious that he had been making out with the man's younger brother. Shiro just groaned in response as Kosmo leaped over and threw himself at Keith. Luckily Keith was able to catch himself before he could fall down. Lance hovered in the back though just to make sure that he was okay. "Hey boy." Keith said softly, and with a fond look on his face as he started to pet the large space wolf. "What have you gotten yourself into?" He questioned softly. Kosmo just wagged his tail at him and liked his master on the face. Keith chuckled a little bit at the action and Kosmo took that as his cue to move onto his next target, Lance. Lance, who wasn't expecting it, got tackled to the ground when Kosmo headed over for him. One minute he was up right, and the next he was laying on the ground with a giant wolf on his chest that was blocking him from getting up. With Lance keeping Kosmo distracted, and vice versa, Keith walked over to help his older brother off of the ground. 

"Are you alright?" Keith asked as he helped Shiro stand to his full height. They were now standing at almost eye level, with all that Keith has grown in space and on the whale. He wasn't the scrawny, short, little kid anymore that Shiro first met. Shiro just grunted in response as he was regaining his bearings. "If you didn't love that dam wolf so much.." Shiro mumbled under his breath, and Keith pretended that he couldn't hear him. "Are you alright?" Shiro asked him once he was himself again. Keith didn't even hesitate to nod his head 'yes'. He felt a whole lot better after last night, and that was all due to Lance. He played a large part in his good mood now. Shiro smiled softly at his little brother. He was also checking the younger man over to make sure that he was telling the truth. He appeared to be alright, and seemed to be doing a whole lot better than he was the last time that he saw him. Though he did take notice of how flushed Keith seemed, and how red his face was, with how his lip was a little bit swollen as well. "That's good to hear." Shiro told him. And if Shiro just so happened to know what him and Lance had been up to, he didn't mention it. And that was something that Keith was grateful for. 

The two brothers turned their attention to the Red Paladin who was lying helpless on the floor as he was getting licked mercilessly by a giant space wolf. "Kosmo, come here boy." Keith said as he motioned for Kosmo to come to him. The wolf leapt off of Lance and headed back over to Keith. And even though Shiro wasn't Kosmo's biggest fan, he still found it pretty funny that when Lance stood up he was covered in drool. Once Lance had shaken off enough to be halfway decently presentable they got down to business. "Hey Shiro." Lance said. "How's it going?" He asked him. Shiro just shrugged, "Oh you know get transported to a different lion by a giant space wolf and got covered in drool." He told him. "You?" Lance just nodded his head in response. "Yeah, pretty much the same thing over here man." He told him. Shiro just nodded in response. The three of them just ended up standing around the room staring at each other in awkward silence for the next 15 minutes or so. It was only when Shiro realized that Red was left unattended that they should probably have Lance teleported back. "Lance, not that I don't love your company or anything and not to be rude, but shouldn't we get you back to Red?" Shiro questioned. And that seemed to get everyone to snap out of their respective stupors. "Oh, um yeah!" Lance said. "That would probably be a good idea at this point right?" "Well, don't let us keep you then." Keith said, and Shiro could pick out the nervous twitch in both of their voices. "Okay Kosmo." Keith said. "Take Lance back to Red." He told him. And before Lance could prepare himself, Kosmo launched at him and they went teleporting back to red. Which just left Shiro and Keith standing there with each other. "Not one word." Keith said when Shiro was getting ready to speak. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some translations for the Spanish from this and the last chapters:   
> There's those beautiful violet eyes-Ahí están esos hermosos ojos violetas   
> grandmother-abuela   
> I think that's all of it, if I didn't get it all sorry.   
> -N.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're finally back on Earth, yeah!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been awhile since I've last updated. Things have been crazy on my end and I haven't been to write like I want to. Though hopefully things will calm down now and I can get back to writing, though don't hold me to it though. Anyway, I'll stop ranting now and let you all get to reading. Have a nice day and keep safe out there!   
> -N.

Chapter 9 

Lance... was in awe, he couldn't believe, he just couldn't believe it! They were back on Earth finally! They were back home! He was back home! Though it's not at all what he had envisioned it being. He had pictured it way different than this, it would have been happy, lively, not bittersweet because of the giant space cats invading. (Don't tell Keith because of that last part, he gets mad every time Lance tells him he's cat-like because of his Garla genes.)(But can you really blame him when Keith himself acts so cat-like himself.) But back to the topic at hand here, they were finally home! And now he can see his family! That is... if they were still alive. 

With the state of how they found their planet in, Lance wasn't exactly so sure. He still hoped that they were alive, but even he was losing hope on stuff anymore. Especially after how long it took them to get back to the Garrison. Right as they were reaching Earth, they got an incoming message in from Pidge's father. He told them that Earth had been invaded by Sendak and his fleet, and that they were overrun. Though from how he was talking it sounded like they were still fairing very easily. But he had told them to leave the Lions on the Moon and not to bring them to Earth, since if Sendak got his hands on them then we would all be doomed. Lucky for them they were able to take down a lone Garla Cruiser and cimmendareed for themselves. It was a little bit slower traveling than the Lions themselves, but Lance cares to think that they made pretty good timing back to Earth. And from there was when things got really messy. And that's saying something coming from him. 

It was pure chaos from then on out to get to the Garrison. Lance knew that it wouldn't be easy, God for once he really hoped that they could just go and and get out without having to deal with anything else and just be done with it. But no, that could never happen to them, happen to Lance at all. Anyway, another thing that irked him about this was getting saved from those sentry drones. And no, it wasn't the saving part that he had trouble with not at all. As a Paladin, and just as a living being in general he knew that he couldn't always do things on his own and would sometimes have to rely on others to get things done. It just pissed him off by who was sent to go and save them. James Griffin, that asshole. Even though Lance had proclaimed him and Keith 'rivals', besides being completely anti-social, Keith never did anything to him. Their fake rivalry that Lance made up in his head as an excuse to think and talk about Keith and not get made fun of(Which completely backfired thank you very much). Keith kept to himself and didn't do anything, if anything he was more shy and timid than all of them. Later on he would come to find out that part of the reason was the Black Paladin's anxiety and social awkwardness, and the other part was that he was getting bullied. And bully number one was one James Griffin. And that just made Lance's blood boil. 

Lance thinks that he could be a very good judge of character, most of the time(Nyma and Rolo don't count). And a good 90% of the time he's right about whoever it is. And from the very first day that he met James Griffin, he knew that they weren't going to get along that well with each other. James had one of those vibes about him that he was one of those teacher's pets and perfect students. Lance also could tell that the kid was a certifiable asshole in the making. And hearing Keith recount his old school days with his buddy James and how James tormented him so bad that on more than one occasion had thought about seriously harming himself to get James to leave him alone. Lance refused to say that Keith had tried to kill himself out loud. It made Lance angry just thinking about it, he was taught as a young child never to pick on anybody, and that being a bully was some sort of mortal sin. He could never quite understand why people thought that doing stuff like that was okay. It just made his distaste for Griffin even stronger than it already was. And it didn't matter that he saved them or not, the guy was still a giant asshole in Lance's book. And that's probably not going to change any time soon. 

But he's trying to act professional here. They were in the middle of a war, and Lance had to play nice with everyone because they were allies. Regardless of what Lance thought of them. He just had to keep himself in check until all of this was over with. Then he could go and kill Griffin.  


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After a gruelling trek back to the Garrison, Lance felt his spirit lift just a little bit. He knew that there was a good chance that his family was inside, and God, he wanted to see them so bad. He was allowed to split off from the team a little bit to go and look for their families in this mess. Sadly, they didn't know where Hunk's family was, but even though Lance was determined to see his family, he had filed that bit away to deal with later. Even though Hunk was his bestest friend in the whole wide world, Lance would be the first to admit that if he didn't see his family right this minute then he was going to combust. He was just itching to go and wrap all of his family up in a giant hug and never let go. But even though he's dreamed of this moment for years, he wasn't even prepared for dealing with it now. The overwhelming emotions of finally coming home, and seeing his mother, and grandmother again, God, Lance just wasn't ready no matter how much he told himself that he was. 

"¿Lance? Lance, ¿eres tú? ¡OH DIOS MÍO! ¡Gracias! ¡Gracias Señor! ¡Mi bebé está en casa, mi bebé finalmente está en casa!" Was the first thing that Lance heard as they stepped through into the secret bunker that was housing the resistance force in the Garrison. He immediately turned his head and saw his mother standing on the side of the room. She was wearing ragged clothes, and her hair was a mess, but she still looked exactly the same as the day he last saw her. She was standing stock still as she looked at him, Lance noticed the tears pooling in her eyes and how her shoulders were shaking. "Mamá." Lance said softly. And that was all that it took for his mother to just take off in a dead run and launch herself at her youngest child. Luckily, Lance was able to brace himself for the impact of his mother colliding into him. Lance didn't even realize when he had started to cry. All that he knew was that his mother was here in the flesh, and she was hugging him again. He's wanted this for so long, he didn't know what to do with himself anymore. 

Not even five minutes after his mother had attached herself to him, Lance heard more footsteps coming down the hall. And even after all of this time he could still recognize his father 's footsteps when he walked.He looked up from where he had his head buried in his mother's shoulder and even through the tears he could make out his father coming towards them. He had changed more than his mother had, but he still looked pretty much the same as the last time that he had seen the man in person. He looked like an older version of Lance just with darker hair, and a few wisps of grey tangled in it now."Rosa, ¿de qué demonios estás gritando ahora, te juro que si sigues así te oirán ... afuera ... Lance? ¡Mi hijo! Todos, de prisa, de prisa, ¡es Lance! ¡es Lance! ¡Está aquí, está en casa!"He shouted as he dashed over to join his wife in hugging his son. "Es bueno verte a ti también papá." Lance said as his father collided with him and his mother too. 

It didn't take that long for the rest of the McClains to come barreling into the room to see what all of the commotion was about. All of them stopped and froze at the doorway, just stunned at what they saw before them. After all of these years, he was back. Their baby brother, their grandson, their uncle, their twin, their Lance was finally back. Once the moment of shock wore off, they all pounced on him like a bunch of pinarrahs. And the momentum of all of them jumping on him at once, it was more than enough to tip them all over and into a giant pile on the floor, with Lance on the bottom, though Lance didn't really mind, he was just so glad to be back.  


"¡Lance! ¡Lance! ... ¡Tío Lance! ... ¡Oh, Dios mío, idiota, dónde has estado todo este tiempo ... Lance Charles McClain, cómo te atreves a salir corriendo y darle un ataque al corazón a tu pobre abuela!" Was the mixture of all of his family's voices at once, speaking overtop one another to be heard, so that they could claim first dibs on yelling at him. God, did he miss his family. Lance was just so overcome with joy that he couldn't help but to start laughing at all of his family's antics. It felt great to be back in their arms again, even though his family was determined on crushing him. But for once he didn't mind it at all. He was just so glad, and so grateful to be back with them. This is what he's dreamt up for years being up in space and he wouldn't change any of it for the world. " _Oye, oye, lo siento, lo siento, lo siento mucho. Los amo mucho, me alegro mucho de estar de regreso."_ Lance said. _"¿Pero ahora puedes dejarme tomar un poco de aire? No puedo respirar."_ And that just made everyone else laugh at him. 

=========================================================================== 

To say that Pidge was the least bit nervous about seeing her family again was an understatement. While, yes, she's already been reunited with both her father and her brother before, it's been awhile since they've seen each other. And it's been even longer since they've all been together. And even longer than that still since she's seen her mother. That last part is what worries her the most. Her and her mother love each other very much, they always have. Pidge did in fact come from an Italian family, and family values are always held very close to one another. Which meant that the Holt family was very close with one another. But, Pidge didn't exactly explain her plan about infiltrating the Garrison to find evidence of her brother and father being alive. Nor did she get the chance to tell her that she was leaving Earth to go and fight in a thousands of years war either. Needless to say that she was a dead girl walking. Or, that's at least what she thought. 

When they had first gotten back to the Garrison after being saved by Griffin and his squad, Pidge was so excited. But when her and Lance had been split up to see their families, was when the dread of the situation fully hit her. She was worried that her mother would be upset with her. And she hoped that her mother had it in her to forgive her, because Pidge honestly doesn't know what she would do if her mother hated her from now on. Though she didn't voice any of her concerns outloud. Keith's family was still lost in space somewhere, and they haven't heard from Krolia in a while, and even though he tries to deny it, Pidge can tell that Keith's worried about his mom. The only other family that he has left is Shiro. All three of the Alteans that they have with them, are all that each other have left that we know of and currently have no way to get back to them. Shiro just found out that his fiance is dead, and the only other family that he has left is Keith. And then there's poor Hunk, who they don't even know where his family is or if they are alright. Plus, Lance is over the moon to be back and be able to see his family again. He's been waiting for this moment for so long. Pidge felt guilty about being so nervous, and decided to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn't ruin anyone else's day anymore than it already has been. 

She could feel dread fill her stomach as she made her way down the hallway that led to where her family was staying. She was vaguely aware of the fact that Lance went off in the other direction to go and find his. But, knowing that all that stood between Pidge and her family now was just a plan, a simple reinforced steel door, made her feel like she was going to puke. She has waited for this moment for longer than she cared to admit at this point, and here she was just seconds away, and Pidge had to do everything in her power not turn around, and run. She felt like an idiot. 

Pidge was so lost in her musings that she didn't even notice that she was right in front of the door. She would have walked straight into it, had it not been for the fact that she was able to glance up at the last moment and see it in her way. Smiling sheepishly to herself, and rubbing the back of her head, Pidge took a moment to catch her breath. She steeled herself, and pressed the button to open the door. Pidge saw them before they saw her. At first, her parent's backs were turned to her. They seemed to be bent over a table working on something, so they didn't hear her come in at first. Pidge stood there frozen for a moment. She didn't really know what to do at the moment. Did she go over there and just start talking? What about announcing her presence to them and hoping for the best? Is just turning around and running away and not dealing with this until Matt gets here an option? But before she could make up her mind on anything, her dad picked now to go and turn around. The moment that his eyes landed on her, she could see how his eyes lit up. "Katie!" Her father shouted and left his wife's side to run over to his daughter. Before Pidge knew what was going on she was getting swept up in a giant hug. It felt nice to be back in her father's arms again, she wasn't going to lie. But that didn't mean that she could breathe since her dad was squeezing her so tight. She was starting to lose the blood flow to her brian. "Dad!" Pidge gasped out. "Can't breathe!" 

Sam recluantaly released her from his hold and sat her back down on the ground. Even though her father was intent on restricting her airways, Pidge was glad to see him again. Once she got the breath back in her, both her and Sam turned their attention back to the other occupant of the room. Her mother was standing closer to them, than Pidge thought that she was. Her mother had an unreadable expression on her face, that made Pidge shrink in on herself some. This was what she was afraid of. Her mother was pissed off at her and was getting ready to yell at her. She stood there with her head bent down next to her father who had come up behind her, and waited for the other shoe to drop. 

Pidge was shocked though when instead of furious yelling that she had expected, her mother did the opposite. Her mother had closed the small space between them and threw her arms around her daughter in a tight hug. Pidge was shocked at first, but it didn't take her that long to get over it and return the hug with full force. The two of them stood there for who knows how long in silence. Though Pidge could feel the tears that her mother was shedding leaking through onto her armour. She missed her mother so much, and after all of this time those pent up emotions just hit her at once. And before she knew what was happening she was balling herself. Both her and her mother were crying hysterically now and they didn't know if they would ever stop. Colleen leaned over to her daughter's ear and whispered. "I'm so glad that you're okay Katie." Pidge sniffled a little at that. "I missed you too Mom." She told him. "But, you are so grounded when all of this is over." Pidge's eyes snapped open at that. Welp, there was the other shoe. 

================================================================================ 

For the first time in a very long time, if ever, Hunk felt empty. To be clear he felt empty emotionally. Normally, he has a large range of emotions all ranging from happiness, to sadness, to rage. But this time, it just felt like he was numb. After finding out that his family was God only knows where, and he had no way of knowing where they were, or if they were even okay or not. Normally that would make his blood boil with anger and worry. His stomach would be in knots and he would almost end up throwing up or something. Now though, it just feels like everything is muted, like nothing is real. But one thing remains certain for him. When he gets his hands on Sendak that Garlan was going to wish that he never crossed paths with him. Yes, he's normally a big teddy bear who would never hurt a fly. But you don't mess with the people that he loves. You just don't, ask anyone.  


It was pretty late at the Garrison, and Hunk figures that everyone was probably asleep by now. So he snuck out of his sleeping corders and headed off towards the kitchen. He hoped that by going and making himself a little midnight snack or just cooking in general would help him mellow out and he could get some sleep. They all needed to be on their top game if they wanted to end this once and for all. When he finally got there, Hunk began to quietly work on something simple. A sandwich. Not his usual cooking but he felt too out of it to be able to use the appliances properly. He feared that he might end up trying to burn the place down or something and that no one would be happy about that. So he stuck to the simple things of life. 

The more that Hunk got into it, the more he started to think. His thoughts drifted to a variety of different topics. He thought about Team Voltron, the Garla, Lotor, Zarkon, Shay and the Balmera. And then he shifted onto the topic of his family. He started to think about his mother and his Tina, along with his grandparents, and little siblings. He wondered how they were doing, if they were okay. Were they even alive? It was just starting to make his headspin at this point and Hunk hated it. He just wanted to come home, run to his family, and wrap them up in his arms and never let them go ever again. Sadly, this couldn't work out like he wanted it to for once. It was the story of his life at this point and he was just learning to deal with it. 

He was so lost inside of his own head and thoughts that he didn't hear someone else come into the room. "Hunk?" Said man who jumped when he heard his name being called at the same time that he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. It startled him a bit and he couldn't help his gut reaction. Once he felt like he wasn't going to have a coronary, he turned to see who was here with him. He thought that it was probably Lance. Even though he was with his family and was probably in the midst of catching up with him, he still had some sort of freaky 6th sense for when something was wrong with him. He was surprised to see Keith though. Not that he thought that Keith wouldn't care, if anything Keith is the one who could probably understand and empathize with him the most at this point. He just thought that he would be out with Shiro and checking on him, or making plans or something leader-like. Not here in the kitchen in the middle of the night trying to calm Hunk down because he's overreacting. 

“Oh Keith!” Hunk said as he was finally able to get his heart to calm down enough to where he could carry on a casual conversation. Keith just stood there and looked at him like he was worried that the other male was going to pass out on him. “What are you doing here?” Hunk asked him. And that question seemed to bring Keith out of whatever trance the elder seemed to be in and he snapped back to reality. “Oh, um.. I.. I just couldn’t sleep is all.” Keith told him. “I came out and figured that I would walk around some, see if I could tire myself out to sleep.” He explained to him. Hunk hummed, to show that he had heard him. “Does it work?” The Yellow Paladin asked him.. Keith shrugged. “Sometimes, it worked a little bit when we were back at the Castle of Lions.” Keith told him. “But I’ve struggled with sleep my whole life so it doesn't really phase me anymore.” He told him. Hunk nodded his head in agreement. “What are you doing up this late though Hunk?” Keith asked him. “Is everything alright?” He asked in such a soft and timid tone that sounded so unlike Keith that it made Hunk’s heart hurt. Keith had spilled his whole entire past, and his issues with anxiety, and self-harming before they landed on Earth. Hunk felt very honored that Keith felt like he was comfortable enough around all of them to tell them this secret of his. But he still couldn’t get it out of his head what Keith told him. How he was always so nervous to be around other people, especially after living with Gloria and how he’s always tried to help, but he’s just so awkward and shy that he can’t function right. Hunk felt bad about it, and he’s kicking himself for not making a better effort to befriend Keith the first time around before all of this happened. And damn it, Hunk couldn’t just tell him no. 

“I… I couldn’t sleep either.” Hunk told him. Keith nodded his head at him. The two of them just sort of stood in an awkward silence as Hunk went back to making his midnight snack and Keith just stood there and watched. Hunk had offered him a sandwich as well but Keith had declined it, he told Hunk that he wasn’t hungry. Hunk filed that away for later, he remembered Lance telling him a little bit more about Keith’s anxiety after that debriefing before they landed, especially how Keith gets so worked up that he can’t even look at food without trying to vomit. And if Hunk moved his sandwich out of view as not to trigger Keith and then himself since he was a sympathy puker then no one needed to know. The two of them must have spent at least 15 minutes or in this tense atmosphere before Keith spoke up again. "If there's anything on your mind-" Keith started. "This situation stinks! It's just... I can't believe we finally get back to Earth and it's taken over by Galra!" Hunk yelled as he cut Keith off. "...I guess there is something on your mind.” Keith said calmly after Hunk’s outburst. Though he really couldn’t blame the guy. He knew what it was like to not be able to see your family, to know if they were okay, to know if they were alive. It was actually part of the reason that he had come to the kitchen. He wasn’t going to tell Hunk this, but he was actually looking for him to make sure that he was okay. He knew that Lance would probably be the best one to do this even though Keith was their leader, or even Shiro for that matter as well. But Lance was just reunited with his family and he didn’t want to ruin that. And Shiro was busy being examined by the medical staff still and he wasn’t going to touch that with a 10ft pole. “I’m sorry Hunk.” Keith told him. “I know that this sucks believe me, and it’s probably only a fraction of what you’re feeling now.” Keith said. “But I promise you, we’re going to get your family back one way or another alright?” Hunk turned to look his leader in the eyes. And Keith’s eyes were a sparkling violet, so deep and beautiful that Hunk was just mesmerized by them. No wonder Lance always talked about them. 

“Thanks Keith.” Hunk told him. “This means a lot to me.” He went and hugged him. Keith grunted a bit at the contact but it didn’t take him too long to return the hug. “It’s no problem at all Hunk, that’s what friends are for.”Keith told him. Hunk laughed at him. “Man, no wonder Lance is like in love with you.” He told him and that laughed some more when Keith froze and started sputtering. But what those two didn’t know was that a certain Blue turned Red Paladin was standing outside the entryway into the kitchen and was hearing everything that they were saying. Lance had a small smile on his face as he slipped back out and headed to where his family was located. He had come to check on his best friend, but as it turns out he didn’t need to. Keith had it cover this time. Though if Lance had stayed, then he would have heard the other two plan to sneak out that night and look for Hunk’s family. Needless to say that when Lance eventually found out, he was ready to kill the both of the,. Hunk may be his best friend in the whole world, and Keith might be his crush, but that still doesn’t warrant them a pass from his wrath. His Mama didn’t raise no sucker here people.  


=============================================================================== 

Sneaking back into his family’s room at the Garrison was a lot easier than he thought it would be. Lance can remember all of the times that he and his siblings had tried the same thing at their house when they were all younger and they would get caught every time. His parent’s, especially his Mama, and Abuela seemed to be all knowing and knew everything that they tried to do. Though this could have something to do that it had been a long, hard couple of years for his family and they were all exhausted, or Lance had gotten better at this. “Lancito.” Or not. ‘Damn.’ He thought to himself, busted. 

Lance turned around and was prepared to face the wrath of his mother, grandmother, maybe even his father. But he didn’t expect to see his grandmother’s older brother Vincent standing behind him. “Tío abuelo Vincent?” Lance asked in shock. His great-uncle was in the large gathering party to welcome him home earlier. He just about squeezed Lance to death, but the two of them hadn’t had any time to try and catch up with each other. When he was younger he and Vincent were very close with one another. The elder was Lance’s confidant whenever he needed something, especially if it had something to do with his sexuallity. He was the first person that Lance ever came out to, and he’s helped him so much with trying to accept himself for who he was. He never really realized how much he missed the older man until he saw him right at this moment. Lance went over and hugged him, and Vincent immediately wrapped his arms around his grand-nephew and held on tight. “It’s alright Lance.” He told him. “It’s alright.” 

Vincent had taken Lance and guided the younger to a secluded place in another room in the Garrison. It looked sort of like a lounge or rec room to Lance. The next thing that he knew Vincent had set him down on one of the couches. Lance turned and his great uncle was sitting right next to him. “Tío abuelo Vincent?” Lance asked him. “What are we doing here?” Vincent just chuckled at him. “What, you’ve been gone for 4 years without a trace and no phone calls and I can’t just want to spend some time with you?” Vincent asked in a teasing tone. Lance just shook his head at him. “I mean yeah we can talk, but why now?” Lance asked him. “Just checking in, can’t I care about my sobrino?” He asked him. “Si, you can.” Lance told him. “ ¿De qué quieres hablar del tío abuelo Vincent?” Lance asked him switching back to Spanish. Vincent just shrugged at him with a knowing look in his eye. “Oh, creo que sabes de lo que quiero hablar.”Vincent told him. And again, Lance felt like he was screwed. “Pensé que me habías dicho que no te gustaba Keith?” Vincent asked him. “ Ustedes dos parecen bastante amistosos el uno con el otro, ¿no es así? Hmmm …” Lance couldn’t help but the faintest blush blooming across his cheeks. Damn, his Tío abuelo has always been able to read Lance like a book. 

“Las cosas han cambiado mucho en los últimos años, el tío abuelo Vincent. Me di cuenta hace mucho tiempo que mis sentimientos por Keith son más que hostilidad y animosidad.” Lance told him. “Ya veo, entonces, ¿cuáles son estos sentimientos que tienes por él, ellos mi sobrino?” Vincent asked him. “Keith me hace sentir raro, feliz, vertiginosamente raro, ¡pero todavía me frustra como el infierno y me vuelve loco! El tipo no tiene absolutamente ningún sentido de autoconservación y sé por qué es así, pero eso no hace que sea más fácil para mí lidiar con esto.” Lance told him. “A veces pienso que a él no le importa si muere o no, pero yo sí el tío abuelo Vincent, no quiero que Keith muera, me preocupo demasiado por él para verlo morir. Y sé que suena egoísta ya que él es el líder de Voltron y todo el universo lo necesita en este momento, pero no puedo evitar sentirme así.” Lance explained to him. “¿Lo amas Lance?” Vincent asked him. “Sí, sí, lo amo tanto tío abuelo Vincent, Keith es para mí, lo sé.” Lance confessed to him. Vincent just looked at him and smiled. And somehow Lance just knew that everything was going to be okay now. 

================================================================================ 

Earth was very strange to her. Allura had never seen anything like it before. It was just so different than Altea and anything else that she could have ever imagined for it. Yes, she had heard the Paladins, mainly Lance tell her about the planet, but it just never clicked in her mind. Looking around though at what these people are going through now is something that she’s seen before. The damage and the terror that the Garla are raining down on them is something that they do to every planet that they touch until it’s no more. Well, Allura wasn’t going to let this happen to this planet. Earth was going to be saved. Earth will be saved if it’s the last thing that she ever does in her life. And the Garla are going to be stopped once and for all. She swore this on her father’s spirit. Everything is going to change now for the better, that Allura was going to make sure of. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that I got the translations right, but I couldn't get them to post on here, and I forgot what I did last time to get them to work. I'll try again later to fix it if I can. If you see anything wrong just say something and I'll try and fix it.   
> -N.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things pick up some speed here. And finally, more klance!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the 10th chapter. We're in the home stretch now guys. Only 3 chapters and the ending left. It might take a little bit longer to get the 4 part out since I want to finish the rest of my series for in Another World. Then I want to work on SEVENTEEN since it's been almost a year since I've last worked on it and I feel bad that I haven't given it any attention in a while. Then there's like 3 or 4 other works that I want to put out as well so I have to do something with them and have them not just sit there on my computer forever. So it might take awhile, but I promise this series is going to get done eventually. Stay safe and have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 10 

Keith didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. Though he felt silly that he was feeling this way, he couldn't help it. He trusts Allura with his life and if she says that this is going to work then it's going to work. But this was his brother that they were talking about, the only person who has been there for Keith since forever. He knew that Allura was only trying to help his brother out by making him a whole new arm, but he couldn't help but to be wary of it. What if something went wrong? What if Shiro reacted badly to the Altean technology. Keith can still remember Shiro's first experience with the healing pods and how that didn't go over so well. He just couldn't help but to be worried about this. Shiro has been through so much and he just wanted something good to happen to his brother. It was the only reason that he didn't object when Allura had offered her idea, no matter how much Keith wanted to throw up at the idea of it. 

Which is how they ended up here now. Keith stood on the other side of the glass as Shiro was in one of the labs of the Garrison's medical set up. Today was the day that Allura had scheduled to try and attach the new arm. She had finished it a couple of days ago and showed it to them so that Shiro had all of the information that he would need so Shiro could make his final decision. It looked pretty cool in Keith's opinion, it was large and bulky though but from the schematics that Allura and Sam showed them it would and wouldn't attach to Shiro's body. It was supposed to float somehow, Keith wasn't really sure how it all was supposed to work though. He just knew that Allura told them that it shouldn't kill Shiro and that was enough for him now. Though he could tell that Shiro didn't like the fact that the arm was so bulky. Even though he hated that the Garla tried to control him with the arm that they gave him, he knew that his brother liked how it was more human-like and than this arm would be. But Keith kept his mouth shut, it was his brother's decision to make not his. He would support Shiro regardless of what he wanted to do, and if that meant Allura had to go back to the drawing board then so be it. 

Shiro ended up deciding to go and get the arm attached, and Keith told him that was fine. It was his decision and he was going to support him through this. Even though it made Keith's anxiety spike and felt like his heart was trying to come out of his throat. But he wasn't alone during this thankfully. Pidge, Hunk and Romelle were standing outside with him. Pidge wanted to help attach the arm but her parents wouldn't let her, so she opted for standing outside and waiting like the rest of them. Even James and his team were there as well, which he didn't get, but fine whatever. Though what really was keeping him grounded through all of this was the fact that Lance, and Kosmo were right there next to him. Kosmo was at his feet, pressed right up against his side, trying his best to offer him some sort of comfort. And Keith wasn't going to ignore the fact that Lance had an arm wrapped around his waist, showing that he was there for him as well. Keith felt thankful that he had all of these people there though to support him and Shiro. Keith never thought that he would have something like this when he was younger, but now that he has it he wouldn't trade it for the world.  


It was hard to watch Shiro go through this though. He's never been able to handle something like this happening with family before. He didn't handle it well when his Dad died, when that druid tried to kill his mom. Not to even mention all of the times that he's lost or almost lost Shiro. And it's a good thing that he didn't know that Lance had died for a little bit at first, because he knew that if he had been there, he would have completely lost it. He felt Lance squeeze him tighter trying to get him to calm down again. Keith felt himself calm down a little bit more but it still didn't vanish at all. He was still incredibly worried about his brother, but he did feel calmer being around Lance and the rest of his friends. His therapists that he used to go to when he was younger had always told him that he needed a good support system if he ever wanted to work through all of his issues and trauma. At the time he thought it was a load of crap, maybe the guy wasn't so wrong after all. 

Everything seemed to be going fine for the most part, though Keith spoke too soon when everything went to crap. All of a sudden the arm started malfunctioning, Keith's breath hitched a little bit, but he knew that this could happen at first when they went over all of this with Sam and Allura. Then Shiro started screaming and that was when Keith started to panic. Almost immediately he moved to try and get to the door. He needed to get to Shiro and see if he was okay, he had to get to him. Though almost as soon as Keith tried to move he was jerked back. Lance's arm tightened around his waist and pulled him back to him. Keith tried to break free from his hold, but in his panic his mind and body didn't want to work right. And it didn't help that Lance brought his other arm around him now to try and keep him in place, along with Kosmo stepping up and helping Lance keep him in place. Keith was really starting to panic now, he had to get to his brother, he was one of the only family members that he had left, and he just couldn't lose him, he couldn't. He knew that by this point he was probably crying but he didn't care at this point. His older brother was in complete agony and he couldn't do anything to stop it. 

"Hey Keith, Keith, you've got to calm down man." Lance whispered into his ear as he was trying to keep him in place. Keith was still trying to struggle against him, but he was slowly giving up the fight. "Man listen to me, Sam, Coran, and Allura are working on him now alright?" Lance told him. "This is only going to work if you stay out here and calm down, you're no good to Shiro like this alright?" Keith knew that Lance was right, but that didn't make it any easier for him to swallow. But God, he was so worried, he needed Shiro to be okay, he almost fell apart without him the first 2 times, he didn't know how he would handle a third. 

Not that long after Keith felt his legs go numb and try to go out from underneath him. He was just waiting to hit the floor, but he never did. Lance had never let go of Keith since the both of them had gotten in there, he was worried, and when Shiro started reacting badly he knew that things were going to get tricky. Luckily for Keith Lance was able to keep his hold on him and slowly guided Keith to his knees on the ground. Everyone else in the room was in various stages of shock around them. Everyone was worried about Shiro, and they never expected this to go so badly. The other part was that they never expected Keith to act like this. The other Paladins knew that Keith and Shiro were very close with one another. And they knew that Shiro was one of the only family members that he had left. It was very iffy on what Keith’s reaction was going to be depending on how all of this was going to go down. They knew that if this went wrong then this was going to get tricky for Keith. But they never thought that Keith would react this badly to it though. But they forgot to keep in mind that Keith’s trauma runs a whole lot deeper than they thought that it did, and that he was really good at hiding it from them all of these years. 

Keith himself was just spiraling down. He knew that something like this was bound to happen, if it was just their luck and it was rotten. He should have never let Shiro agree to get that new arm. Now he was going to die, and Keith would never have gotten to say goodbye and… and… God, it was really getting hard to breathe in here or was it just him. He could vaguely make out Lance holding him, trying in vain to get him to calm down. It just wasn’t working, the panic wouldn’t go away no matter what he did. With tears streaming down his face Keith didn’t know what to do. His brother was dying and he didn’t know how to fix it. It was all his fault, this was all his fault. This was just like losing his Dad all over again, if not worse. Keith couldn’t take it anymore, he couldn’t. He should have known better, everyone always leaves anyway, he should have seen this coming a long time ago. He’s lost Shiro 3 times already now, and they always say that 3 times is the charm. He guesses that this means that Shiro’s gone and he’s never going to come back like he did all of the other times regardless of what Keith did. And that just broke his heart even more. Shiro was one of the only people that never gave up on him, and this is how it all ends for them. 

================================================================================ 

Lance was worried about Keith. Which wasn’t anything new by the way but still he was worried. Even though Lance knew how far deep Keith’s trauma ran compared to the others, but that still didn’t prepare him for this though. Going into this, they all knew that there was a good chance that something could possibly go wrong with Shiro and his new arm. Though Shiro chose to do this despite all of the risk and everyone on the team was supporting him full force. Everyone was worried though, they couldn’t help it though, especially after everything that they’ve been through together. But Keith was worried the most out of all of them, after all it was his brother. And Lance knew that the thought of losing Shiro again was petrifying to him. So Lance had decided to stick close to Keith during this, just to be on the safe side. After all it was just a safety precaution for all of them. Allura told them that everything would be okay, so what could go wrong? 

Now he’s kicking himself because he’s pretty sure that he’s just jinxed them all. Everything was going halfway decently to begin with. Everyone was a little bit on edge at first, you could tell that from the get go. But they still went on like everything was as planned. Allura, Sam, and Coran started working on Shiro. Lance was vaguely aware of the fact that everyone else was scattered around the room. He could hear Pidge and Hunk talking to Romelle in the background. James and his crew were somewhere in the back of the room, Lance didn’t really know what they were doing and he didn’t really care either, he was just glad that they weren’t here bugging Keith at the moment. And he’s pretty sure that he heard his sister Veronica coming in and out of the room a couple of times, but he wasn’t really sure to be honest with you. His whole almost undivided attention had been on Keith since the second that he had walked into the room and saw the elder standing there. 

Lance had absolutely no doubt whatsoever in his mind that Keith had been in this room way longer than anyone else. It wouldn’t surprise Lance if Keith had been in here waiting even before they went and took Shiro back to prep him for the operation. It was a nervous tick of Keith’s to be as close as he could physically get to a person he cared about when they were hurt. Even though for the longest time he had claimed not to remember their first bonding moment, he knew a lot about it. He knew that Keith hung outside his healing pod from the time that he went in to the time that he got out. Hunk had told him that Keith was almost inconsolable for the whole entire time that he was in there. He wouldn’t eat, sleep, drink, or do anything else but just sit there and stare at Lance while he was in the pod. The only reason that he even cleaned up all of the blood and grime off of him was because of Shiro. He had convinced Keith to go and get cleaned up with him after he had gotten checked out by Coran by telling him that Hunk was more than willing to stay by his side until he got back. His best friend had told him how despondent Keith was to everything and everyone. It freaked Hunk out a bit, but he didn’t press the then Red Paladin about it since he didn’t want to make it worse.  


The whole point of this story here is that Lance knew Keith went into this weird ‘I can’t function until I know you’ll live’ mode when someone he cares about gets hurt. He’s seen Keith start to spiral down when Shiro went missing in space, and he can remember Keith telling him how bad it was when Shiro went M.I.A. on the Kerberos mission a couple of years before that. He knew that things would get bad for Keith unless someone stepped in and made him function like a normal human being. Normally that would be Shiro, since he’s been doing that for Keith for a long time now. But considering that Shiro is the one going underneath the knife now, that only left Lance as the only other person that Keith would let get near him. So Lance stepped up and filled in for him. Which he didn’t mind though, he would do anything for anyone on his team, especially Keith, so this didn’t phase him in the slightest. 

But Lance was really hopeful at the beginning since things seemed to be going really well. The Red Paladin was pretty sure that things were going to go smoothly for them for once, and Lance was over the moon at it. That is until it wasn’t. One minute everything was going fine, and it seemed like things were going to end soon. Then the next minute the arm started to malfunction and Shiro started screaming, and before Lance knew it everything was going to shit. Immediately Lance turned to check on Keith, though that was fairly easy since he had his arm wrapped around the other man as a sign of comfort and stability. He could already tell by the look of horror on his face Keith was about 2 seconds away from bolting, so he had to think fast. Lance tightened his grip on him, and brought his other arm around to try and keep Keith in place. In his panicked mind Keith was trying to break free of his hold, but lucky for Lance Kosmo was there and the space wolf was on his side too. With the two of them working together they were able to keep Keith from going into the room since he was no use to anyone at the moment. Lance was able to get Keith to sit on the floor and try to get him to calm down and it seemed to be working for the most part.  


+++++++++++++++ 

Lucky for them that Allura was able to figure out why the arm was malfunctioning and was able to fix it. Though Lance did feel bad that it was at the expense of her royal crystal, even though the thing was small, it was the last thing that Allura had left of her family and her life on Altea since the Castle was destroyed. But it looked like it was the only way to stabilize the arm without killing Shiro, so Lance was still going to take that as a win. Now, he just needed to get that through Keith’s head. “Keith, hey man, it’s okay, it’s okay.” Lance kept trying to tell him. “Shiro’s okay, he’s okay, Allura fixed him.” He told him. Keith just kept shaking his head at him. No, no, no. “Yes, Keith he’s fine you don’t have to worry Shiro’s going to be okay now.” “No, no, no..” And it broke Lance’s heart hearing how small and scared that Keith sounded. “If you don’t believe me, then go look for yourself, I think they’re rolling him out.” Lance told him. Keith lifted his head up a little bit and made eye contact with Lance. Wide-fearful looking violet eyes were staring back at him, searching to see if he was telling the truth. Lance just kept his expression calm and his eyes sincere. Eventually Keith calmed down enough to where Lance could tell that he believed him. 

“Where, where is he?” Keith asked him. He still seemed a little bit out of it, so Lance wasn’t that keen on letting him go off by himself at first. “He’s still in there, Allura, and them are making sure that he’s okay now and giving him meds.” Lance explained to him. “Do you want to go see him?” Lance asked softly. Keith nodded his head vigorously. Lance had to hold back a small chuckle at that. Yeah, Lance could say for certain that if their places were switched and it was one of his siblings in there, he’d be going mad with worry too. “Okay then, well let’s get you up and in there then.” Lance said as he pulled Keith to his feet. He ended up escorting him, along with Kosmo to the door into the lab room to make sure that he got there okay. The rest of the occupants of the room were all watching in anticipation, but they kept their distance to be on the safe side. Though Lance did notice that they hadn’t taken a breath until they were sure that Coran had a hold of Keith and was taking him to Shiro and Kosmo was at his side. With that taken care of Lance turned his attention back to the rest of the room. And he wished that he hadn’t.  


++++++++++++++++++++++ 

“Is that something that usually happens?” Griffin asked in a gruff tone. He sounded disappointed, annoyed and like a prick in Lance’s opinion. And he told him so too. “Quit being a prick Griffin, that was his brother in there.” Lance told him. “Yeah, have a heart dude.” Hunk said as he tried to back up Lance. Lance looked out of the corner of his eye and saw his sister slink back into the room again and stand next to Romelle. Veronica had an unreadable expression on her face that Lance didn’t have the time to try and decipher. “I know that, but still, does he normally have meltdowns like that?” James asked. And his voice was really starting to grate on Lance’s nerves at this point. He saw one of Griffin’s teammates elbow him in the side, he knew that the girl looked familiar but he couldn’t remember her name off the top of his head. He thinks that it was Nadia or something like that. “What are you getting at here Griffin?” Lance asked him in a very cold voice. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the rest of his friends look at him funny but he didn’t pay them any mind. 

Griffin it seemed wasn’t going to back down from this, so Lance wasn’t going to either. He knew the history, the full history between Keith and James Griffin, and how awful that squad leader was to the Black Paladin. Keith told him that he and James used to be friends with one another when they were kids. James was one of the only people that didn’t make fun of Keith for only having one parent since James himself only had his mom as one parent. But when his dad died, James’s attitude towards Keith kept getting more volatile towards him the older that they got. And things really came to a head right before Roger attacked him and killed Gloria. James had found out somehow that Keith had a crush on him, and was using it to torment and haze him during school hours. When Shiro had taken him in and he got into the Garrison he thought that he was finally rid of the other. Though that proved to be false when James showed in one of his classes their first year there and told him that he was going to make his life a living Hell until he dropped out and proved everyone that he was nothing but a delinquent. Which later on led to the other male getting his teeth knocked in by Keith. And LAnce is pretty sure that he doesn’t know all of what went down between them, but he wasn’t going to push Keith for details. Suffice to say that if he didn’t like James to begin with, he really didn’t like him now.  


“I’m just saying,” James said in that cocky attitude of his that Lance hated. “If Kogane can break down like that at the drop of a hat, is he really the best choice to be leading us here.” He said. And Lance could feel his blood boiling by the second. “I mean Kogane’s always been emotionally unstable, I guess that he hasn’t changed over the years at all.” Griffin said smugly. His team members seemed to be shocked at the way that he was acting but didn’t know what to do as a response to that. Lance was planning on taking care of that for him though since he was seeing red at this point. “Shut up you asshole.” Lance bit out dangerously. “Shut the Hell up right now.” Lance said. “Don’t, don’t you dare talk about him like that you ignorant dick.” Lance was fuming at this point. Griffin had no right to talk about Keith like this and if Keith wasn’t going to do anything about it then Lance would.

“You don’t get to talk about Keith like that, like you know him.” Lance told him. And for once Griffin kept his mouth shut and didn’t snap back with one of his trademark ‘witty remarks.’ “Keith, I’ll admit isn’t the most open about his emotions and when he is he’s a little all over the place, because he’s never been taught how to deal with them.” Lance argued in Keith’s defense. “But he’s a great person and an even better friend once you get to know him and how walls come down.” Lance said. “And I’ll admit that Keith and I didn’t get along at first, but now I’m glad that I know him.” Lance said. “He’s one of the most selfless, strong, brave, and caring people that I have ever met in my life.” Lance said as he continued his rant. “And you have the nerve and the audacity to treat him like this?” Lance asked him. “Haven’t you tormented the man enough already when you were kids?” Lance was really pissed off now. He could vaguely register his sister and Hunk trying to get him to calm down but he wasn’t paying attention to them. “Keith thought that you were his friend, but all that you ever did was bully him, and torment him and make his life a living Hell.” Lance told him. “Keith has been through so much traumatizing shiht in his life that he needed someone in his corner for, but all that you ever did was tear him down and make him feel like he was better off dead than alive.” Lance told him. “You are a class A prick James Griffin, I want you to know that, and I want you to start respecting Keith for once in your life, it won’t kill you.” 

“You don’t get to talk to me like that McClain.” James bit back. “You don’t get it come off all high and mighty to me when you used to hate Kogane just as much as I do.” He told him. “What happen, did you get bitten by the gay bug or something?” He asked him. And then he got this weird look in his eye that Lance didn’t like. “You’re a fag too aren’t you? That’s why you’re defending Kogane now aren’t you?” And Lance was really seeing red at this moment. He vaguely heard Veronica call his name and Hunk try to grab onto him, but he brushed both of them off. And the next thing that he knew Griffin was on the floor blood spouting from his nose, and he was screaming and cussing up a storm. The rest of his team were surrounding him trying to see if he was okay. Lance heard his friends circle him trying to talk to him, asking him questions but he wasn’t really registering anything. All that he knew was that his knuckles hurt and he was still shaking with rage. But he didn’t feel any regret though. Griffin deserved it. “Lance,.. Lance,.. Lance, come on man come back to us.” He finally came back to himself when he heard Hunk calling his name. Lance turned his head to look at his best friend, and he had this nervous look on his face that made Lance confused. But he followed Hunk’s eye movement and he caught a silhouette of someone standing in the doorway of Shiro’s room. It was Keith, he looked shocked to say the least, but Lance didn’t know how long he had been standing there watching. “Keith..?” Lance asked softly. But when he called out to the Black Paladin he took off running out of the room and down the hall with Kosmo hot on his heels. Immediately Lance took off and went searching for the Black Paladin, completely ignoring the others calling his name behind him. He probably just screwed up so much it wasn’t funny. 

================================================================================ 

Shiro was in pain,.. And not just any old pain, no this pain was brutal, almost unbearable. But hey, at least he got a whole new arm out of it though. He does choose to ignore the fact that the new arm and him didn’t get along with each other at first, but he’s willing to let bygones be bygones for the sake of coexisting with each other for the rest of their lives now. God, they did give him the good stuff for his pain, he’s talking to his new arm like it’s a whole other being now. He really needs sleep at this point. But even though his mind was really foggy and he was strong out, he knew that he still had things to do. He hoped that his healing time was short.  


The Garla weren’t going to stop themselves, and he needed to be in tip-top shape to be able to stop them. He’d be damned if he would let his baby brother and his friends go out there alone and end up getting killed. He’s seen and experienced first hand how much damage and destruction that the Garla Empire can do and will do without any remorse. He wasn’t about to let the kid that he considered his baby brother go out there alone and get blindsided. He wasn’t going to let what happen to him or worse happen to Keith. He loved the younger like his own brother and he had promised Krolia that he would take care of her son, and he was going to fulfill that promise no matter what it took. 

Shiro was so out of it, that he didn’t notice that someone else had entered the room that he was being held in. He didn’t know it until a large weight jumped on his chest, and he got a face full of space wolf drool and a bunch of blue fur in his face. “Kosmo! NO! Bad boy, get off of him, he’s recovering.” Keith told him firmly as he was trying to get his giant wolf off of him. The next thing that Shiro knew his little brother’s face came into view, he knew it was Keith because of his mop of long black hair and the scar running down his face. He looked like a wreck in Shiro’s opinion. He could tell that Keith had been crying, and he hated to see his little brother cry. 

“ねえ、弟それは大丈夫です、私は大丈夫ですキース？ Alluraは、SamとCoranの助けを借りて、私を大丈夫に直すことができました。.” Shiro said softly as he reached up to cup Keith’s face with his real human arm. The younger just chuckled at him wetly, and grabbed the hand cupping his face in his own, while he was petting Kosmo on the head. “Really, you’re the one who just went and got a whole new appendage attached that tried to kill you and you’re more worried about me?” Keith asked him incredulously. “I guess I worried for nothing after all, you’re fine.” He said with a lap. Shiro just smiled at him gummly, Keith could really tell that his brother was as high as a kite with the pain meds that they pumped into him. “What the hell did they give you?” Keith asked him. Shiro just shrugged, or tried to, he wasn’t really sure that he could feel his body at the moment.” Dunno, but it's the good stuff.” He slurred. And not even 5 minutes later he was out cold. Keith let out a breath and sat his brother’s good arm back down on the bed. He felt a lot better seeing Shiro in person that he was okay. He was planning on staying for a little bit longer than he did, but then he heard a loud shout coming from the next room over. He went to go and investigate and what he found shocked him to no end. He just froze.

============================================================================= 

James was shocked to say the very least. He never in a million years would have ever thought that Lance McClain would ever have the guts to stand up to him like that. Though this wouldn’t be the first time that we would be wrong about something. Usually though when he’s wrong he doesn’t end up with a possibly broken nose. Damn, he really didn’t think that McClain could pack that much of a punch in such a scrawny body. Though it has been a couple of years since he’s seen him. His nose was throbbing and his ears were still ringing. 

“James? Are you okay man?” James looked up at the sound of his name and saw 3 blurry figures hanging in his line of sight. It took a couple of minutes for his vision to come back into focus for him to recognize his team members hovering in front of him. “Shit. What hit me?” He asked them. “That would have been one Lance McClain knocking your lights out.” Nadia told him. Well, he knew that much. “Never thought that he would have it in him.” James said. “If you want to report him to Commander Iverson I don’t recommend it.” Ina piped up. “You technically were the one who started it, and even though it was all verbal on your end, you violated some of the Garrison conduct rules, and you’re more likely to get punished for your part than he is for his.” She told him. ‘Great.’ He thought to himself. “Yeah dude, you were kind of an asshole to him, and Keith.” Ryan said. “Not cool man, not cool.” James could only groan to himself in response. God, what has he gotten himself into this time? 

================================================================================ 

It took him a while but Lance was finally able to track Keith back down to his room at the Garrison. As soon as Keith ran out of the room Lance took off after him right on his heels. Keith was fast, a lot faster than Lance, so it didn’t take that long for the Black Paladin to lose him at all. But Lance wasn’t one that was going to give up on him though. He probably looked like a madman running through the halls of the Garrison like an idiot, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He needed to find Keith, to make sure that he was okay, try and fix the mess that he had started with Griffin. Lance didn’t even care that his knuckles were at least bruised, if not broken, Keith was way more important than this, he just had to find him and make him listen. 

Panting, and trying to catch his breath Lance rested against the wall outside the door of Keith’s room. He had finally tracked him down to his room and was planning on talking to him, right after he was able to catch his breath. It took him about 10 minutes or so but he finally felt like he was able to breathe again and moved to knock on the door. “Keith?” Lance tried. “Keith, it’s me Lance, come on I know you’re in there man, I followed you the whole way here.” Lance told him. It took a couple of minutes but he finally got some sort of response out of him. “Go away Lance I don’t want to talk to you..” Keith said through the door, even though his response was slightly muffled Lance was still able to hear what the other was saying. “You know that I can’t do that _gatito_.” Lance said. Keith didn’t answer to that. Lance sighed to himself and closed his eyes. Okay, this was going to be a lot harder than he first thought that it was. “Keith, come on dude.” Lance said. “You know that I’m not leaving until we talk, I’m fully prepared to stay here until you come out.” Lance said as he sunk down to sit on the floor with a large ‘plop.’ “I’m not moving dude, so either you come out now, or I sit here until you do, and you know that after a while I'm going to start getting bored and you know what I’m like when I get bored.” Lance told him. Not that long after he said that he heard the door to the bedroom open. ‘Bingo.’ 

Lance turned his head to get a better look at Keith. He couldn’t see a whole lot of the other’s face though since his bangs were covering his eyes. But with the tense way he was standing Lance knew that he was upset. Quickly, he got up out of the floor and turned to where the two of them were facing each other. Lance was able to get a quick peek into Keith’s room and saw Kosmo laying sprawled out on his bed, seeming to be asleep. He figured that the space wolf would be out in front of Keith ready to rip his head off since Lance was part of the cause that made Keith upset. The two of them just stood there and looked at each other for a couple of minutes just looking at each other. Keith was the one to finally break the awkward silence between the two of them and started talking. “What do you want Lance?” Keith asked him in a gravelly voice. Lance could tell that by the way that his voice sounded that Keith had been crying a little bit. And that just made Lance even guiliter, he didn’t mean to make Keith cry. “I.. I just wanted to come make sure that you were okay.” Lance told him. “And I wanted to apologize for what I did with Griffin, I didn’t mean to make you upset.” Lance told him honestly.  


Keith stood there a couple of minutes just staring at him. He didn’t quite know what to make of it. He wasn’t mad.. Okay he was mad, but he wasn’t necessarily mad at Lance. He was just upset about what James said. And he was confused about what Lance did, he’s never had someone stand up for him like that before. Normally whenever he got picked on, especially whenever it was done by James he just had to sit there and take it, since no one else seemed to care enough to do anything about before. But here Lance was, risking a lot by punching James in the face to try and defend his honor. He was partially flattered that Lance who by no means is a normally violent person, would just go off on someone like that. And the other part of him is made that Lance would do something like that. They were in the middle of a war and Lance didn’t need to go and pick fights and get in trouble just to try and protect him. Keith wasn’t some damsel in distress that needed protecting, nor did he think that he deserved someone like that. It confused him and that just made him even angrier. 

“I’m… I’m not mad..I think..” Keith told him. “I.. I just don’t understand why you would do something like that Lance.” Keith said. “We’re in the middle of a war, and you’re picking fights with Griffin over something stupid.” Keith told him with a strict bite to his tone. “It’s not stupid.” Lance said as he cut him off. “You’re not stupid Keith.” Lance told him. “I don’t care what trouble I get in with Sanda and Iverson and Shiro, or you.” He said. “I’ll still work with Griffin and his team. I don’t care, but he had no right to talk about you like that, no right at all.” He explained. “And if I have it to do all over again, I’d gladly do it the same way over again.” Lance told him. And he just had this determined look in his eye that made Keith’s heart beat faster and his stomach clench. “Why though?” Keith asked him in a small voice. “Why me?” And Lance blames this next part on his no brain to mouth filter that comes with having ADHD and being part Irish. “Because I love you.” Lance told him. “I love you so much Keith Kogane, and I think that you matter to me, and you’re enough, and that you shouldn’t be talked about like that behind your back or to your face.”Lance told him. And once his mind caught up with what his mouth said he panicked. And Lance did what he normally did when he panics, he runs. He ran back the way that he came, and he left Keith there at the threshold to his room, so, so confused it wasn’t funny. All that Keith could think about was ‘Lance loved him?’ 

================================================================================ 

Allura was a little bit overwhelmed by everything going on. That much Romelle could tell. Though the Princess wasn’t one to really voice her concerns and frustrations to others, let alone her fears. From what Coran has told her, Allura has always been told from the time that she was a little girl to keep her chin up. She was the only child that her parents ever had before her mother died when she was young and Zarkon took over the universe and supposedly wiped out the rest of the Altean race. She was the face of the Coalition, the representative of the Alteans, and the one who had to deal with all of the political nonsense that came along with bringing peace across all of the galaxies in the universe. 

Romelle had absolutely no idea who she could do it all. She knew that if they were in different roles then she would crumble underneath the pressure in no time. Allura is one of the most strong willed beings that she has ever met in her whole entire life. And besides that she’s intelligent, and elegant and she’s just so cool in Romelle’s opinion. She doesn't have any other words that she can think of to describe the Princess without making herself look like an idiot. She’s never had someone like Allura in her life before. She had friends back on the Colony before she went against Lotor and his agenda, but she never felt included. She always felt like an outsider to her friends growing up as a young girl. But then she met Allura, and all of that changed. Not that she didn’t like the rest of Team Voltron because she did, she really did. Keith was the first person that she met along with his mother, and she got along great with them. She enjoyed her time riding with Lance in the Red Lion even though she’s pretty sure that he got annoyed with all of her questions. She was fascinated by Pidge’s skills with technology and she liked having another girl to talk to even though she was from a different planet. She liked talking to Shiro about pointless stuff, and he always made her feel safe. Her and Hunk were of similar minds and they got along well enough. And she enjoyed listening to Coran’s stories about old Altea and all of his adventures both solo and with King Alfor. But, there was just something about Allura that was different, that drew Romelle towards her. 

Romelle, even though she was young, knew that the way that she felt about Allura was quite different from what she felt about the rest of her friends both old and new, along with her family. She loved Allura. Or to put it more bluntly she was in love with Allura. Whether or not her feelings are reciprocated, she may never know since she was too frightened to ask her about it. But she hated the fact that Allura was going through, and that she was almost powerless to help her. Romelle knew nothing of Altean magic or alchemy, and she wasn’t a fighter, or a diplomat. She was of virtually no use to the rest of the Team now that they were on Earth with their people. But she wasn’t going to let that stop her. She was going to support Allura during this no matter what she was going to do, or what it took. 

================================================================================ 

“¿Qué está pasando Lance? Puedo decir que estás preocupado por algo.” Veronica asked him. They were driving one of the Garrison vehicles right to the drop site where they were going to meet with the Red Lion. She could tell that her baby brother wasn’t acting right. And she wanted to find out what was wrong with him. She was also concerned that this might be the last time that she will ever see her baby brother ever again, after all of these years being apart. She wanted to know what was going on in his head. 

“Todo está bien hermana. No tienes nada de qué preocuparte, Ronnie. Estoy bien.” Lance told her. She didn’t believe that in the slightest. “No creo eso en lo más mínimo. Te conozco, Lance. Sé cuando algo anda mal. Dime hermanito, por favor, quiero ayudarte.” Veronica told him. “Especialmente si esta será la última vez que te volveré a ver. Quiero saber que estás bien Lance.” Lance just sighed to himself and turned to look at his sister out of the corner of his eye. “Lo arruiné Ronnie, lo arruiné mucho. Después de pelear con Griffin, busqué a Keith e intenté disculparme.” Lance told him. “Me dijo que no valía la pena y yo solo rompí. Le confesé, le dije que lo amaba y luego me escapé.” He explained to her. “La cagué tan mal Veronica.” Veronica sighed and grabbed her brother’s hand that he wasn’t using to steer. “Está bien Lance, todo va a estar bien. Vamos a arreglar esto y ganar y luego vas a arreglar tu mierda y le dirás a ese chico que lo amabas. Y no te atrevas a intentar contradecirme en este Lance, sé que has estado enamorado de ese chico desde que tenías como 12 años.” She told him with a small smile on her face. “Gracias Ronnie, sabía que siempre podía contar contigo.” Lance told her with a laugh. Regardless of how many times that he has ever felt insecure or useless Lance has ever felt in his life, Veronica was always there for him. She was there to pick up the pieces and put him back together again every time. He never knew how much he needed her, and took advantage of her until he went into space. But over time he realized that Keith could do the exact same thing to him that Veronica has done ever since they were children. And talking to her now, every worry and insecurity that he has ever had about being him, about being a Paladin, just vanished. He knew that he could do it, that he had to do it. “Te amo Ronnie, realmente te amo hermana mayor.” Lance told her. Veronica just smiled at him and squeezed his hand reassuringly. “Lo sé Lance, yo también te amo Hermanito.” She told him. Lance knew that everything was going to be fine from that alone. 

================================================================================

Keith was terrified, he’s not sure that he’s ever felt this scared in his whole entire life. And that’s saying something with all of the traumatizing shit that he’s been through since he was a kid. The last time that he can even remember being this scared was the day that his Dad died. He can remember standing there on the sidewalk outside of the old diner that the wife of one of his work buddies owned. He can remember seeing the flames take over like it was some kind of monster, and feel the scorching heat radiating off of the building trying to take over him. He felt like all of the oxygen was taken out of his lungs, like could never breathe again. He was feeling like that now, except worse. 

He was sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Black Lion, ready to go with the rest of his team behind him waiting for his commands. That is, everyone except Lance. They were missing the Red Paladin, and they were running out of time to take out those cannons of Sendak. If they didn’t do something now then they would lose everything. And the worst part was that they didn’t know where Lance was. They couldn’t get him on the comms no matter who tried, and no one could feel him through the Paladin bond. Keith felt sick. He felt worse than when his Dad died, when that druid tried to kill his Mom, any of the times that he thought that he lost Shiro. He couldn’t lose Lance, he just couldn’t. He loved Lance, he needed him, he couldn’t live without him. Lance was his right hand man, his impulse control, his stability. He didn’t know what he would do without him.  


Keith had all of these terrible scenarios running through his head about what could be happening to Lance right now. He could feel an anxiety attack try to happen as we speak. He was barely keeping it together, he was so worried, and filled with regret. He felt awful about the fact that if he was going to die today, he never got the chance to tell Lance that he loved him too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the translation for this chapter. If you see something wrong just tell me, and I'll try to fix it. 
> 
> Translations: 
> 
> ねえ、弟それは大丈夫です、私は大丈夫ですキース？ Alluraは、SamとCoranの助けを借りて、私を大丈夫に直すことができました。- Hey, little brother it's okay, I'm alright okay Keith? Allura was able to fix me up alright with Sam and Coran's help. 
> 
> ¿Qué está pasando Lance? Puedo decir que estás preocupado por algo.-What's going on Lance? I can tell that you're worried about something. 
> 
> Todo está bien hermana. No tienes nada de qué preocuparte, Ronnie. Estoy bien.-Everything's fine sister. You have nothing to be worried about Ronnie I'm fine. 
> 
> No creo eso en lo más mínimo. Te conozco, Lance. Sé cuando algo anda mal. Dime hermanito, por favor, quiero ayudarte.-I don't believe that in the slightest. I know you Lance I know when there's something wrong. Tell me Little brother, please, I want to help you. 
> 
> Especialmente si esta será la última vez que te volveré a ver. Quiero saber que estás bien Lance.- Especailly if this is going to be the last time that I ever see you again. I want to know that you're okay Lance. 
> 
> Lo arruiné Ronnie, lo arruiné mucho. Después de pelear con Griffin, busqué a Keith e intenté disculparme.-I messed up Ronnie, I messed up really bad. After I got in that fight with Griffin, I tracked Keith down and tried to apologize.
> 
> Me dijo que no valía la pena y yo solo rompí. Le confesé, le dije que lo amaba y luego me escapé.  
> La cagué tan mal Veronica.-He told me that he wasn't worth it and I just snapped. I confessed, I told him that I loved him, and then I ran away. 
> 
> Está bien Lance, todo va a estar bien. Vamos a arreglar esto y ganar y luego vas a arreglar tu mierda y le dirás a ese chico que lo amabas. Y no te atrevas a intentar contradecirme en este Lance, sé que has estado enamorado de ese chico desde que tenías como 12 años.-It's okay Lance, everything's going to be okay. We're going to fix this and win and then you're going to get your shit together and go and tell that boy that you loved him. And don't you dare try to contradict me on this Lance, I've known that you've been in love with that boy since you were like 12.
> 
> Gracias Ronnie, sabía que siempre podía contar contigo.-Thanks Ronnie, I knew that I could always count on you. 
> 
> Te amo Ronnie, realmente te amo hermana mayor.-I love you Ronnie, I really love you big sister. 
> 
> Lo sé Lance, yo también te amo Hermanito.- I know Lance I love you too Little brother. 
> 
> La cagué tan mal Veronica.-I screwed up so bad Veronica.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What everyone thinks of Sanda's backstabbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is just a little bit more depressing than all of the others, but don't worry this is going to have a happy ending. I don't know when the next one will come out, but I'm working on it. Have a nice day and stay safe out there!. 
> 
> -N.

Chapter 11 

This was what Hunk was afraid of happening when they started out on this crazy journey all of those years ago. One of the greatest fears that he had was that they were going to get captured by the Garla and end up getting killed or worse. And this is exactly where they are now. They’re being held prisoner on a Garlan Cruiser while Sendak is trying to go and blow up the Earth. And the only reason that they’re here in the first place is all because of Admiral Sanda. And that shocks Hunk probably the most out of all of them. With how holy and righteous she acted all of the time, he never would have thought that she would betray her country, let alone her whole world. Hunk just couldn't wrap his mind around all of this. 

On the other side of this though, it just really pissed Hunk off. And that’s saying something since he’s the hardest to anger out of all of the Paladins. He was just completely and totally pissed off at the woman. How dare she do this to them?! He doesn’t really care if she was trying to save herself or save the planet by letting them get captured, but Hunk didn’t like it. This whole plan was wrong for so many reasons. You don’t just offer up your own men, especially when a couple of them can still pass themselves off as kids to the evil dictator trying to conquer the planet. And Hunk knows Sendak, regardless of whether he had the lions or not he’s going to try to blow up the Earth. Sanda just basically handed over the keys for him to do so. He’s not going to keep his word at all, Sendak’s going to do whatever it is that he’s going to do and that’s the end of it. Sanda just only made the whole thing way worse than it already was. It makes Hunk think, who the Hell put that woman in charge? He thinks that either the person was drunk, high, or was a complete idiot. And if the answer was C, then said person needs to be shot. Like yesterday. Seriously, who in their right mind would think that something like this would be okay?! 

And Hunk was even angrier at the woman because not only did she do this to him, but his friends as well. Luckily for all of them though, they were thrown into the same cell together. Looking around the room Hunk watched his friends, his second family, the people that he loved. It just invoked something fiercely protective in him watching all of them in the same room with him. Allura was off to the side by herself with her head in her hands, Hunk could only sympathize with her. He knew that she worked hard, probably harder than any other person ever involved with the coalition ever would. And now it just probably seems like to her that all is lost. Hunk feels bad for her, the Garla have not only been making the universe suffer for 10,000 years, but Allura too. The Garla took her mother away from her, her home planet, her father, the rest of the Paladins from what Allura would say, treated her like she was their own kid. The only person that they didn’t take away from her was Coran, and that was because King Alfor sent him off to protect her. If Coran hadn’t gone, then Allura would have been alone, except for the space mice when they found her all of those years ago. Just the thought of Allura being alone like that for so long made Hunk’s stomach turn. 

Turning his attention to the rest of the occupants of the room, his gaze landed on Pidge next. She was sitting on the ground across the room from Allura. She was curled up in a little ball in her corner. She seemed so small in comparison to how she normally presented herself. It was one of the times that it just hit Hunk in the face, exactly how young Pidge was compared to the rest of them. Pidge was the baby of their team, and half the time Hunk forgot about it. Pidge always acted so mature, and grown up for her age. But it dawns on him then that Pidge was barely 15 when they got blasted off into space. She was still just a kid, though they all were, but Pidge was the youngest of them all. She had her whole life ahead of her, and doing all of the stupid stuff that kids her age did. Now, they’ve been in space and fighting this stupid war for almost 4 years now. It makes her 20 now, all that time lost because of a psychopath's cruel agenda. Hunk felt terrible, and the only reason that she got into this mess was trying to find her family and prove that they were still alive. It just made something inside Hunk break at the thought of it. Pidge had just gotten her whole entire family back together too.  


Moving onto the next person in the room was Lance. Hunk really felt for Lance, he really did, and it probably had something to do with the fact that they have been best friends for years. Hunk knew how homesick Lance was during their time on the Castleship. He knew how much Lance missed his family and how many times his friend had confided in him how his heart ached so bad to be able to hug his mom again. The two of them spent more than one late night cycle crying together over missing their families and life on Earth. And Lance was in the same predicament as Pidge, he had just been reunited with his family and now here he is getting ripped away from them again. It pissed Hunk off really bad. It also had something to do with the fact that at least Pidge and Lance got to be with their families one last time. Hunk hasn’t, his family is still trapped in that Garlan work camp. He got to see them one last time even though they didn’t see him though. He wasn’t jealous of his friends though, he was happy that they got to see their families. He was just pissed off at the fact that this whole world sucks! And now there’s a good chance that they might not come back. It just breaks Hunk’s heart to think about it. He’ll never get to see his Mom, or his Tia again, or his aunts, uncles, siblings, niblings, and grandparents again, along with all of his cousins. He’ll never see Shay again either, and that really made him feel like his heart was dead. Even though they haven’t seen each other in a long while, Hunk knew that she was the one. He had never met anyone like Shay before, and from the time that he first saw her the second time that he went to the Balmera, he knew she was it for him. Though he’s come to terms with the fact now that he’ll die without ever getting the chance to tell her that he loved him. At least Lance got to spend their last minutes alive with Keith. 

Speaking of Keith, their leader was up and about pacing the tiny width of their cell. He was running his hands through his hair as he walked his little path across the cell. And he had Lance on his heels trying and failing in Hunk’s opinion to calm the elder down. Going off of his demeanor and body language alone, Hunk could tell that he was stressed out to the max. He’s seen Keith get worked up before, but never this bad. He hated it for his friend. He knew that it didn’t take that much to get Keith’s anxiety levels to go through the roof, especially since Keith said that he hasn’t been able to take his meds in like 5 or 6 years at this point. (And really, Hunk doesn’t understand how the guy is still standing ever since Keith explained how severe this is.) But watching Keith and Lance interact with each other in whatever part of their relationship that they’re in now, makes Hunk happy. He’s been watching these two pine after each other for years and he’s happy that they were finally able to work things out and get together. He just hopes that they’re able to come up with some way to get them out of this mess. Hunk didn’t want to die here, and he’s sure that his friends feel the same way. Hunk wasn’t going to let the Garla win. 

================================================================================ 

Pidge couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. She knew that they shouldn't have trusted Sanda, but no one listened to her. She’s never really been that fond of the Admiral ever since she met her. She was a young kid, and her Dad had just gotten promoted at the Garrison and Sanda had come over to their house to speak with father and congratulate him. Pidge never could quite place what it was, but she knew that there was something about the older woman that just wasn’t right with her. She had snuck off during that night with her brother Matt and talked to him about it. The older Holt sibling just sort of shrugged her off. He had told her not to worry about it, that Sanda was just naturally intimidating and not to worry about. But all these years later down the road, it turns out that Pidge was right. And even though this does seem very childish now, especially considering the situation that they’re in now, but Pidge does wish that her brother was here so that she could boast about how she was right. 

Huffing to herself she turned her attention back to the rest of the people in the room with her. Allura was off to the side looking like it was the end of the world, which Pidge doesn’t blame her since that’s what it feels like now. Hunk was sitting across from her, and he appeared to be deep in thought if the look of concentration was anything to go by. She was curious about what he was thinking about, though Pidge decided that if it was something serious that Hunk would end up telling all of them. She loved her friend, she really did, but Hunk was horrible at keeping a secret from the ones that he loves, and he always ends up caving into them at some point or another. It was one of the things that she liked the most about Hunk, the big teddy bear felt guilty about lying so he didn’t unless he was told to.  


Once she was sure that Hunk wasn’t going to try and blow something up with his mind, Pidge turned her attention back to the two people left in the room with them. Lance and Keith were off by themselves near the door that held them all here. Keith was pacing back and forth in front of the door, raking his hands through his hair and mumbling to himself. Lance was hot on his heels the whole entire time and by the way that he was acting Pidge could tell that Lance was trying to calm their leader down. Though from the looks of it, it didn’t seem to be working that well since the more he tried the more pissed off Keith looked. Though that could just be what Keith looks like when he’s in a stressful situation. Even before Keith had confessed to the rest of the team about his anxiety and the rest of the issues that he has, Pidge knew about it. She didn’t know the whole story and she never realized that his suffering was that bad. All that she knew, she knew from Matt since him, and Shiro were best friends and Matt had tried to befriend Keith back at the Garrison before everything went to shit the first time around. Matt had tried talking her into going to meet Keith and trying to befriend him since he had told her that he had a hard time making friends. Pidge at the time didn’t want to do it. She loved her brother, she really did, but she wasn’t good with people and didn’t want anything to do with the ‘weird kid’ her brother’s friend had adopted. Looking back on it now, Pidge wanted to kick herself, she felt bad about now. If only Pidge had gone, maybe Keith wouldn’t have felt so alone for the time that he did. There was no way for her to change the past though, but at least she could do something to deal with the future now though through her actions in the present. 

Even though Keith looked like he was about 10 seconds from going off and offing Lance, Pidge was happy that he was there for Keith. Watching those two idiots pine and flirt after each other for years was really getting annoying to her. Though with the way that they have been acting around each other lately, it seems that things have taken a turn for the better. And she was glad for that. If anybody deserves to be happy it was those two. And even though Lance is normally all macho, and loud, and talkative, and did she mention loud? Yes, he was loud, but getting back to the topic at hand here, Lance was a calming influence on people believe it or not. It was part of the reason that he always went on diplomatic missions with them. He knew how to work people and how to make it to where they were less hostile and more likely to agree with people over issues dealing with the Coalition. And he did his best work on Keith. Pidge had seen it happen a couple of times before, right after they had lost Shiro and Keith took over for the 1st time. Keith was freaking out about, she didn't know what it was, but all that it took was Lance stepping in and Keith was fine just like that. Pidge had no clue how he did it, but she was very thankful for Lance during those times. Their dynamic was always something quite foregin to Pidge, she couldn’t quite explain it in terms that she was used to. Lance and Keith are known for being at each other’s throats one minute, then the next it’s like their bosom buddies. It confused her for the longest time, and even when she did figure out that the two of them liked each other it was still mind boggling. Lance and Keith have been able to just calm down or rile up the other when needed be. It just amazed her, and she was glad that Lance was trying to do that now. 

She’s always admired Lance and Keith for the way that they just know each other. Even when Lance had deemed them as ‘rivals’ they knew what would push the other’s buttons to the point of having them explode. Pidge didn’t know that if they were trying to keep whatever they had between them now a secret or not, but regardless it was quite obvious that the two paladins had more than just platonic feelings for each other. But Pidge wasn’t going to say anything about it, if they wanted to be together and be whatever they wanted to be then Pidge wasn’t going to stop them. She was in fact quite happy for her friends, if anyone deserved to be happy it was the two of them. 

================================================================================

Allura to put it bluntly, she was pissed off. All of her hard work and years of pain and suffering down the tubes in a matter of minutes. When she first got to Earth with the rest of her fellow Paladins and friends, she was very excited. Her excitement for seeing the new planet stemmed from many different reasons. One of them was that she was excited to see the home planet of her new friends. The other one was that her excitement was her nervous excitement, she didn’t know what they were walking into. She never knew if they were walking into a trap or if they were walking into a devastating site or not. When they got within range of Earth and got Sam’s message that Earth had been taken over by the Garla, she knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. And even though she couldn’t see her fellow Paladin’s faces, she knew that they were devastated at the news. She knew what they were going through, for it happened to her 10,000 years ago when Altea was taken over and destroyed. She had vowed to herself then and there along with Coran and Romelle who were in the Blue Lion with her that they were going to do whatever it took to free the planet. 

Getting on the planet turned out to be a lot trickier than she originally thought that it would be. But they were able to do it, though there were a few close calls. Everything after that seemed to be straight forward enough. Coordinating with the heads of the Galaxy Garrison, they would be able to overthrow Sendak and his fleet and take back the planet itself. Though there were a couple of hiccups along the way that Allura should have paid more attention to. When she was first introduced to Admiral Sanda, she didn’t quite know what to think. She knew that by the way the woman held and carried herself that she was a woman of power and authority that you didn’t want to challenge. And the young princess could also make out the slight disdain that she held for her and her fellow Alteans when they met. It made Allura a bit wary but she brushed it off, after all she would be wary of aliens too if her home planet had been taken over by them even if it was another species. Now, she is kicking herself for not doing anything about it sooner. 

Even though she had her own doubts and concerns she held her tongue at first. She didn’t want to upset anyone and cause any more trouble than necessary. And this was not her planet, and while she was more than happy to offer any assistance to the plan, she felt like an outsider here. And she could tell that not everyone here was okay with the fact that an alien was helping out. She now knew what Keith felt like back when they found out that he was part Garla and she ostracized him from the rest of the group. It felt awful, and she felt even guiltier about the way that she acted towards Keith, even though they had made up a long time ago. But as it turns out she was right not to completely trust the Admiral at all. For, she was the reason that they were stuck in this mess.  


And Allura does feel a little bit bad for her though. She knew that the woman was most likely just trying to do whatever it took to protect her planet from being destroyed. And Allura could get behind that as well, regardless of whether it was her own home planet of Altea, or someone else’s home planet, she would try her hardest to protect it. Though she highly disagrees with the way that Sanda was going about this. Handing over the Lions is like signing a death decree and saying go on ahead and execute me. Sendak was going to destroy the Earth whether or not he had the lions. And giving him the lions just meant that it was even more okay to destroy it. With the Lions of Voltron in his grasps Sendak would become the most powerful being in the universe. He’ll take all of the quintessence from them and channel it into himself and destroy the universe. Sanda has no idea what she’s just set into motion if they can’t get out of this. 

And to make matters worse, she feels awful that she had dragged her friends into this. She felt awful that if they don’t get out of this soon then they’re never going to get out of this ship alive. And that just killed Allura inside a little bit. All of the other Paladins were still so young in general and they still had the rest of their lives to live. It just made her heart ache for them. And on top of them there was also the rest of the people that she’s encountered in her life and in this journey that she holds dear. Shiro, who she has grown very close with over their time together. He always made her feel like she could go to him in his time of need. He was like an older brother figure for her and she loved him just as much as she did the rest of the Paladins, over time they all had become a second family to her. Then there’s Coran, who has been there for her since the day that her mother found out that she was pregnant with her. He always supported her in everything that she tried to do and always went out of his way to try and protect her. And even though he was given dying orders from her father to protect her no matter what. Allura knew that it was more than that. Coran loved her like she was his own daughter, and she loved him just like he was Alfor himself. She knows that if she dies today then it will crush him beyond repair, and she just couldn’t do that to him. And last but not least, Romelle, over time the two of them have become quite close with one another. Romelle made her feel alive, like she could do more than just pilot Blue and stop the war once and for all. Romelle, with her purity, naivety and her innocence on certain matters, made Allura feel like she could just be her. She was a princess yes, but that wasn’t all that there was to her. And Allura now knows that she’s in love with the other Altean. And she’s kicking herself right about now for not telling her that before they left. Allura had figured that she would probably end up breaking her heart, just like Lotor had broken hers, but she really hoped that she was wrong. She guesses that this is the universe’s way of trying to tell her that she was right.  


Looking around at the rest of her family, her team that she was sharing the tiny cell with, she knew that no matter what happened she wasn’t alone. If they win this, she won’t be alone, if they lose and they all die, then she won’t be alone. One thing that Allura knew from day one that she met the Earthlings, was that she could trust them all with her life. Getting a good look at those in the room with her, Allura had noticed that Hunk had moved over and was sitting next to Pidge hugging the younger girl. She smiled softly to herself and watched the two of them interact for a couple of minutes before turning her attention elsewhere. Lance and Keith on the other hand were on the other side of the room from her. They were the only ones standing and they too were locked in a hug. Lance had his arms wrapped around Keith, as the Black Paladin was clinging onto him and had his head buried in his neck. It seemed that Lance was trying to calm the other down from an anxiety attack. And Allura couldn’t blame them, she knew this was a very high-stress situation. And that Keith had less trouble than he did before keeping his head together, but Allura knew that he still struggled some, and that she was probably part of the reason that Keith still felt like that. She wasn’t the easiest person to get along with for him for the longest time at one point. But looking back at the 4 people in the room that she considered her family, Allura vowed to herself that they were going to get out of this, they were going to get out of this, she was sure of it, no matter what it took. 

================================================================================ 

Lance was shocked beyond belief. He should have seen this coming he really should have with how good he is at reading people.The skill was something that he inherited from both sides of his family. He always believed that it had something to do with how everyone in his family is a people person. Growing up, Lance and all of his siblings, especially he and Rachel, could read people better than any book in a language that they could understand. Which did surprise Lance a little bit though, was how most of the time that he was right. The only person that could give either he or his twin sister a run for their money was Hunk. Even though the man was built like a tank, he was one of the softest goofballs that existed in the whole universe, Lance had no doubt about that. He was right about Rolo and Nyma the first time around and it almost cost them Blue since they wouldn’t listen to him. One thing that made Hunk and Rachel better at reading people and the situation was his own insecurity. Yes, despite how much he hates to be, Lance was very insecure about himself and his abilities in his everyday life. Though he’s been told by numerous people from his family to his friends, to Keith, that all of his insecurities were unfounded, that it was just his own head trying to mess with him. He has an easier time believing them now, but he still struggles with it sometimes though, and though sometimes can end up with them in situations like this. 

He’s always had an off putting feeling about Admiral Sanda. Though he chalked that up to the fact that she was one of the most intimidating people that he had ever met in his life. He never actually thought that she would go and do something like this. He knew that betraying one’s country was considered treason, but what about betraying one’s planet? Lance figured that this counted as well. The Red Paladin was torn between being really pissed off not only at the admiral but the situation itself as a whole. He means, he just got handed over to the evil aliens trying to destroy his home planet in hopes that they won’t. When with all of the years that he had been dealing with these guys they are known to never keep their word. And they told everyone back on Earth this when they were first coming up with the plan. Everyone at the Garrison who hadn’t been to space before was pushing for them to hand over Voltron and just call it a day. But they would just be handing Sendak the key to destroying the universe. Lance had thought that they were able to convince everyone that there had to be another way. Though as it turns out Lance was wrong in that aspect. Yeah, he was right, there was something out there that was Hell-bent on trying to kill them. 

And on top of all of this pent up aggression that he was feeling at the moment, he was also worried about his friends, his family, his team, and Keith. He felt awful that if this is it for all of them that his family is going to have to deal with losing him again, just after getting him back. He’s mad that after all of this hard work that his friends and him have done for this both as a team and not, it’s all going into the crapper. Lance didn’t not spend 4 years of his life fighting everything and anything that was trying to kill him just to go out like this. And he was really worried about Keith. Don’t give him that look he can be worried about him. Even though they both have confessed that they like each other more than just platonically, Lance doesn't really know where they stand. Though he’s trying not to dwell on it too much since things have been non-stop crazy for the past couple of months. But it just messed with him watching Keith slowly unraveling again. And he had just started to get better too. Lance knew that all of this was a lot of pressure on Keith and the stress was triggering his anxiety really bad. He’s tried everything to help him out and calm the Black Paladin down some. Though his actions were pretty much futile. Keith did calm down a little bit, but Lance couldn’t get him to stay that way. And Lance knew that Keith wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Allura, Pidge, Hunk and himself were feeling out of sorts too. It’s just that Keith has really been pushed to the edge and Lance doesn’t know if he can ever come back after this. He really hopes that they can get out of here soon. 

But hey, at least if they never make it out, at least he finally got to tell Keith somewhat of how he feels. He’s been in love with Keith since he was a young preteen. His whole life since then has pretty much revolved around the other male. And once he finally gets the nerve to confess, they might just have been sent to their death. Just his luck huh? 

================================================================================ 

Keith was just devastated. He hated this, he hated it so much. Though he's not really surprised as the others are, since he never really liked Sanda to begin with. The only reason that he had ever tolerated the woman because of Shiro. He knew that his older brother looked up to the woman somewhat, with the two of them coming from similar backgrounds, but that didn’t stop the weird feeling that Keith got whenever he was around her. It was very similar to the feeling that he had when he was around Roger all of those years ago. While Keith had no proof that the Admiral was anything like that bastard other than a feeling he kept his mouth shut. He just avoided her as much as possible and kept out of her way. The last time that he had seen her before they had left Earth was when he got booted out of the Garrison. And the day that he got escorted out, Keith swore she was smiling at him as he left. Another thing that Keith knew about the woman was that she didn’t like him very much. She thought that Shiro really screwed up by taking him in and vocalized it more than once in front of him. 

Keith learned over the years just to tune her out and go on with his own business. And once he got booted, he stopped giving a shit, he was more concerned about finding Shiro and following the weird feelings he had in the desert. It wasn’t until he started to get close to Lance and the rest of them that Keith realized that he didn’t have to feel this way anymore. And thinking about it now he realizes why it bothered him so much when Allura stopped talking to him after they found out he was part Garla, it reminded him of the way Sanda treated him. But he didn’t have time to dwell on any of it now though.  


The biggest problem that Keith has now though is his guilt. Being the team leader that he is, he’s supposed to be able to protect his team and lead them to victory. In the beginning he knew that he didn’t do that great of a job at it, he was still too impulsive, and hotheaded and traumatized to do anything right. But after the space whale, he thought that he could do it. He mellowed out a lot with his mom, and he was more confident in himself and his abilities. He also realized that he didn’t have to do everything himself anymore, the weight of the world didn’t rest on his shoulders like he thought it did. Things were going smoothly, and now look where that got him. He and his team are trapped on Sendak’s ship and more likely than not are going to be killed. He just can’t let them down, not again, not after what he did to them last time when he left for the Blade. 

He really felt like ripping his hair out, his anxiety skyrocketed. He really felt like he was going to puke, or pass out, or both. The only reason that he hasn’t completely lost his mind yet was because of Lance. He’s been so calmly and sweet through all of this even though Keith knew that he was freaking out too. Having partially confessed their feelings to one another, Keith didn’t really know where they stood with one another, but he was hoping that it was something good. He loved Lance, he really did, and he feels bad that if Lance dies, it’ll be all his fault. He doesn't know how Lance puts up with him, but he’s grateful for it. He knew that he would have imploded in on himself and crashed if it wasn’t for Lance. Keith’s never been one to deal with his emotions properly, and he’s always had trouble expressing himself, but Lance has always been different for him. At first it was very confusing, and it drove Keith nuts. But once he realized what his feelings were things changed. Lance makes him feel like he’s worth something, that he can be loved, that he’s not some broken toy. And even if Lance doesn’t feel as deeply about him as Keith does for him, at least Keith can die knowing that he came close to having someone love him.  


================================================================================

Shiro just couldn’t believe it. He never ever would have thought that Sanda would be capable of something like this. Throughout his whole career in the Garrison, he had always admired the woman greatly. She was one of the first female commanders of one of the most powerful military academies in the whole world. She was also the first female commander of the Garrison that was of Japanese descent. As a young cadet, Shiro always felt like he could relate with the woman on a deep and personal level. She was one of his role models growing up as a kid. Though with the way that his life has been going these past couple of years, it really shouldn’t be all that shocking for him that his role turned into a fallen idol. And he can relate with the fact that Sanda wanted to protect the planet, but he wasn’t going to sacrifice the Paladins for it. They were his friends, his family, his everything, they were all that he had left. And Sanda has another thing coming if she thought that he was going to agree to willingly sacrificing his baby brother like this. This means war. 

He had to do something. He just couldn’t sit here and let them die. The only thing that came to his mind though was to take the Atlas. Even though Sam has been working on it for years, he said that it still wasn’t ready. It was fully functioning and they were able to hook it up to read his bio-signature, but he didn’t think that it would hold up well in combat. At this point Shiro really didn’t care. Not only was his little brother on Sendak’s ship, probably waiting to be executed if they hadn't tried it already, but Sam’s own daughter was on there. And even though Pidge acts very mature for her age, she was still the youngest one on there. And Veronica had her baby brother on there as well. He knew that he could probably get them on board. They need to do something, Shiro just wasn’t going to sit back and watch them all die. And he and Sendal have a score to settle once and for all.

================================================================================ 

Coran was worried. Though that isn’t something very new to him at this point. He always worries about things, especially the people that he cares about. And he cares about Allura and the rest of the Paladins very much. The day that Alfor told him to take Allura and run, he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t like the fact that he had to leave his King and bestfriend to his untimely death, but he loved that little girl. Coran can still remember the day that Allura was born, she was so small, and tiny, nestled up in her father’s arms. He could tell from the minute that he laid eyes on the young girl that she was going to be the star in her father’s eyes. And Coran wasn't that far behind him. He’s spent over 10,000 years with the princess and he loves her like she’s his own daughter. And that explains why his blood is so boiled over the matter. 

Granted, Coran doesn't know that much about Earth and its customs, nor did he know all that much about Admiral Sanda. All that he knew about the woman was that she was the one in charge here, not Allura or Keith, so he just sat back and did the job that he was originally trained to do. And that was to be the royal advisor to Allura and Voltron. Though Coran can honestly say that he was more than just a little bit miffed when he found out that Sanda sold them all out to Sendak. Really how ignorant must this woman be if she thinks that Sendak will just take the lions and leave Earth alone. That’s just handing over the keys and saying ‘kill me now, I insist!’ He just hopes and prays to the ancients that Allura and the rest of the kids make it out alive. And he knows for certain once he gets his hands on that Admiral that she’s going to regret the day that she ever decided to lay eyes or hands on Allura.

================================================================================ 

If Coran was worried then Romelle was almost downright inconsolable. She knew that Allura had to go, or else this was never going to end. She knew that this wasn’t like Bantor, Allura was more likely to come back. Even though Romelle knew that the chance was higher for her to come back, she still couldn’t hold her breath. Even though she’s never met Sendak, she knows that he’s just as dangerous as Lotor, if not more now. And while she was completely confident in not only Allura’s but the rest of the Paladin’s abilities, she still couldn’t help but worry. They just had to make it out of this alive, they just had to. 

Romelle was very upset with Admiral Sanda. What right does that woman have to think that she can just hand over the woman that she loves, along with all of her new friends to this psychotic alien warlord? None! She has no right to do that! And yes, she realizes that she just admitted to herself that she was in love with Allura, but she didn’t care now. She loved Allura a lot and now she’s in the clutches of this psycho and will most likely be killed just so this woman thinks that she’s saved the Earth. Well Romelle has got what Lance calls a news flash for her, Sendak’s going to blow up the Earth regardless of whether he has the lions or not. She just gave him a lot more ammo to do it with. That woman better hope that Keith, or Shiro or somebody can get them out of this somehow. Or else Sanda’s going to have to answer to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. If you live in the U.S. don't forget that today is election day! If you're 18 or over go vote! The only way that we can ever get anything done is if we vote. 
> 
> -N.


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk takes a stand, Shiro's going to end this once and for all, James is clueless, Keith's worried about Shiro, Lance is worried about Keith, Krolia isn't that far behind him, and Veronica has shipped it since the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the home stretch now guys! We only have 13 and the end left before we move on to part 4. These last 2 chapters should be coming out soon. And then it'll be a little while before the last part comes out. Anyway moving onto the chapter itself, just a slight warning near the end since Keith kind of loses it a little bit after he deals with Sendak. It hints a little bit at what it's like after you kill someone, and coming down from the high and the adrenaline rush. Though I am by no means an expert on this, but this is what I've gathered from reading books when situations like these happen. So if you think that it's triggering don't read this when the ****** starts and don't start again until Lance's part comes up. Other than that everything is business as usual. So I'll shut up now and let you people read in peace. So stay safe, and healthy out there people. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 12 

They had to do something to get out of here. They just had to. If they didn't then it's all over for the Earth and for their families as well. Hunk knew that, and he had to get everyone whipped into shape if they were going to get anywhere with this. Lifting his head up from where it was resting on his knees, he surveyed the room around him. For the most part it seemed that everyone was just keeping to themselves. Both Allura and Pidge were off to the sides and alone. Allura looked like she had given up on life, while Pidge looked like she was in the middle of planning a murder. And Hunk didn’t need to guess who her intended victim was supposed to be. Looking over in the corner of their cell to where Lance and Keith were, Hunk couldn't help but to coo a little bit to himself, internally.(He wasn’t stupid enough to do it outloud for fear of Keith seeking revenge-even Keith was much more open with them now, he still didn’t like that much attention or affection directed towards him.) Lance and Keith were huddled up in the corner with Keith sitting right up against the wall and Lance right next to him. Lance had his arm thrown over their Leader’s shoulders and Keith had his head tucked underneath Lance’s. His best friend was using one hand to hold Keith’s, and the hand that was attached to the arm thrown over Keith’s shoulder was playing with his long black hair. It looked so cute and domestic that Hunk just couldn’t help but to find it adorable. He was so glad that Lance and Keith finally got together, even though this isn’t the best situation to do so in. But when have either of his friends done anything the conventional way? (Though he did know that part of the reason that Lance was doing was a way to ground Keith and try to keep the other from freaking out.) Did he have a good best friend or what? 

Getting back on topic here, Hunk was determined that he was going to do something about this. They were going to get out, they were going to get to their lions, and then they were going to take down Sendak once and for all. Picking himself up off of the floor Hunk was more determined than ever to do something about this. Standing in the middle of the room, with his hands on his hips, Hunk was sort of at a loss for what to do. He knew what he wanted to do, but he really hadn’t planned it out that well. And in the back of his mind he really didn’t think that he would get this far. Normally motivational speeches, uplifting messages, and words of encouragement were more of Shiro, Keith and Lance’s territory. Hunk was more of the comfort food guy. Yes, he could give good advice and reassure people, but he was better at making food to make you feel better. In his experience, people regardless of whether they were angry, upset, or happy, were so much better to deal with when they were full.  


“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Okay, so maybe that wasn’t exactly how he had planned to start all of this, but his mouth jumped the gun before his mind could catch up with it. But regardless of whether it was intentional or not, it seemed to catch the attention of the rest of the people in the room. Now Hunk had four pairs of eyes trained on him, watching and waiting for what he was going to do next. He hates that feeling and he didn’t know how Keith, Allura, and Shiro deal with this all the time. “Hunk?” Lance questioned him softly. The Red Paladin was looking at him like he had lost his mind from his place over next to Keith making sure that the Black Paladin was okay. “Well, we can’t!” Hunk argued back, even though he was the only who knew what it was that they were arguing about. “We can’t let Sendak and his fraction win!” Hunk said. “There are millions of lives at stake here, and I know that it doesn’t seem like we can do a whole lot but we have to get out of here and do something!” He said. “And I know that I suck at this since I”m not Keith or Shiro, or Allura, or Lance giving this speech, but doing something is better than doing nothing.” He told them. “And if this all ends up going to shit and then some, and we end up losing, which I hope doesn’t happen, at least we can say that we tried.” Hunk said. “We’re the Paladins of Voltron, and Allura has drilled this into our heads everyday since we met that it’s our duty to protect the universe and save if from the Garla, and last I checked we still had a job to do don’t we?” Hunk asked them. 

Hunk just stood there awkwardly and stared at the rest of them. He never knew that he had it in him to do that. And he was even more anxious about whether his impromptu rambling. ranting/motivational speech thing worked or not. He stood there for a few minutes, holding his breath, hoping and praying that this was going to work. Then Keith looked at Lance one last time, he got out from underneath him and stood up. Hunk really felt like he was going to pass out or puke or something as Keith walked over to him. He had to hold back a flinch as Keith put his hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “You’re right Hunk.” Keith told him. And Hunk could hear that the Black Paladin was still having some trouble breathing if his voice was anything to go by. At least Lance was able to calm him down somewhat. “We have to do something, it’s our duty as Paladins to give it our all before we let the Garla take over.” Keith told him. He then turned around and looked at the rest of their team, and he had a glint in his eyes that Hunk was a little bit afraid of knowing that it was one of Keith’s impulsive looks. “We’re getting out of here and we’re ending this today!” All that Hunk could do was gulp, why did he open his big mouth again? (Because it was the right thing to do. (Oh shut up brain!))  


================================================================================ 

Shiro knew that this was a stupid idea but he promised himself that he was going to end this once and for all and he was going to keep it. He knew that Keith was probably going to kill him for it later but he didn’t care. Protecting his baby brother was more important than his own safety. He was done being the victim here. He’s let Sendak spend time in his head, his thoughts, dreams, nightmares, and flashbacks. Sendak used to instill fear and anxiety in his body whenever he heard or thought about the old general. No more, he wasn’t going to let Sendak rule his mind, his life, and least of all his home. He was going to put an end to this today even if it’s the last thing that he ever does. And if he has to give his life for this then so be it, at least it would mean that Keith and the rest of the paladins would be safe, along with the Earth. 

He knew that this was very martyr-like behavior of him, and that on more than one occasion in his life he’s been compared to one. At the time it didn’t really bother him, and he just ignored it. Now though, he doesn’t give a shit. He will do whatever it takes to protect the ones that he loves this time. No one else is going to end up like his parents, or Adam… Keith was one of the only people that he had left in this world that he loved like family, or at all in general, and Shiro will be damned before he let’s something happen to his little brother. He knows that Keith’s going to be pissed but he doesn’t care. His safety, his happiness, his life is way more important to Shiro than his own. The only regret that Shiro will have today if he does in fact lose his life is the fact that he never got the chance to tell Keith that he loved him, and how much he meant to him one last time. 

Hearing the noise of the Atlas come back to him, Shiro had to take a deep breath and steel himself. It was now or never. If he didn’t go now then they might never get a chance to go after him again. And he wasn’t going to let Sendak kill Keith or anyone else. This ends now, and this ends today. “Prepare for take off.” Shiro announced over the PA system. “This ends today one way or another.” He mumbled to himself. And if Veronica dn Curtis gave him weird looks then he didn’t see them.   


================================================================================ 

This was it, this was the big moment, the climax of the war. James knew this from the start, and yet it was only now that it was beginning to sink in. If they screwed up today that was it, it was the end of the world, of his life as he once knew it. This wasn’t like the simulators when he was a cadet, there were no do overs, no reassurance that he can get more than one chance. And there was no safety net of this wasn’t real and no one could get hurt no matter how hard they failed. This was the real world, with a real threat that was determined to eliminate the Earth at all costs. It really freaked him out a lot more than he would care to admit, and even more than he let on. He had to keep his head in the game though. As soon as he started freaking out that would be the exact moment that people would start dying, and he wasn’t going to let that happen if he could help it. Enough people have died because of the Garla already, and James wasn’t going to add to their lists. 

Though at the moment he really didn’t know what all he could do. He had no clue what he was supposed to do. Yes, he had been told the plan and had been given orders to stay put until called upon. Then Nadia had to go and just take off anyways. _"And, there she goes."_ Thanks for pointing out the obvious Ryan, you really are a good friend. And the whole fate of not just the world, but the universe as well rests on the shoulder of Keith Kogane and his team. And if that prick still acts like he did back in their early Garrison days then the whole world is in real trouble. 

================================================================================ 

Veronica was torn. On one hand, she wanted to just take Lance, wrap him up in her arms and never let him leave his site ever again. The other option was that she was going to grab her baby brother by the throat and wring his neck out. She hasn't decided what it was that she wanted to do yet. But she knew for certain if Lance ended up hurt or worse dead after all of this was over she was going to wring her baby brother’s neck. She doesn’t care how mad their Mama’ or their Abuela will be. Lance has put her through so much stress and anxiety in the last 2 days than he has in his whole life and that includes the 4 years he went missing when he went to space and didn’t tell anyone. Though she does love Lance to death, she just also believes that he will be the death of her one day. 

Lance,.. How does she put this lovingly, he’s always been an idiot. A good, goofy, kind hearted, loving idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. He’s also the most selfless, and compassionate one out of all five of them, and that’s something that everyone in the family agrees with except Lance himself of course. (The one time he actually acts humble willingly she might add.) But Lance also had trouble seeing himself, his true self the way that other people do. It was part of the reason why he acts with so much bravado that it makes you want to choke him sometimes. He’s always trying his best to be the best version of himself so that everyone can like him and be happy. While Veronica admires the effort, she’s never been able to get it through Lance’s head that everyone doesn’t have to like him and he can’t make everyone happy. And while the part about him not having to like everyone he gets, oh boy does he get that. It’s the other stuff that’s lacking in understanding. 

To be quite honest, Veronica was overjoyed when Keith Kogane entered her little brother’s life all of those years ago. Even though Keith seemed to have his own issues, he was good for Lance. He gave him something to make Lance work hard, with Keith being his “rival” as Lance had put it, Lance worked his ass off. And while her little brother is very intelligent and well-rounded in his own right, and a hard worker, his insecurities can get the best of him sometimes. And when that happens he tends to slack off just a little bit. And in the Garrison no one can afford for that to happen. Which is where Keith comes in, he pushed Lance to be a better student, pilot, person, a better version of himself. And even though Keith more likely than not has no idea what he’s done for her brother, Veronica does. She remembers quite clearly the day that Keith had gotten booted, Lance had run to her dorm room crying his eyes out because Keith was gone. (He hadn't gotten the news that he had been promoted to fighter class yet.) He could, or would never tell her why he was so upset that Keith was gone, when he had complained to her on more than one occasion that the other boy never paid him any attention, but she stopped pushing. All that Lance would say was that he wished Keith didn’t have to leave. And that was the day that Veronica realized that her baby brother was in love.  


4 years later, Veronica is impressed at their new dynamic. Lance and Keith seemed close, closer than they were during their Garrison days. And the few times that they have been back in between all of the madness that is trying to save their planet from destruction Veronica watched them. And what she saw made her heart melt. Even though Lance would probably never admit this, Veronica was fully prepared to hold it over his head for the rest of their lives. In her opinion they were acting like their parents. The way that Lance was fluttering around Keith, always making sure the other was okay, offering a helping hand and so on, it was like watching Papa help Mama in the kitchen at home. At first Veronica didn’t think that much of it. That is until Griffin got in the way again. Standing there as her baby brother punched out another Cadet right in front of not only her but his friends as well, all while his crush was in the other room trying to make sure that his older brother was still alive. It was shocking to say the least, and Veronica, once she got over it knew right then and there that Lance was in love. Lance only ever acted like that when someone he loved or cared deeply for was threatened, or he felt like they were. And it was in that moment that Veronica knew that Lance would kill or do anything in the world for Keith Kogane. 

Veronica was really hoping that they were going to win today. She wanted her planet to be okay, she wanted her family to be okay. And once all of this mess was over with she was banking on Lance and Keith getting married. She didn’t know if they were together or not already, but Veronica couldn’t wait until their mother got her hands on Keith. Knowing her mother and the rest of her family once they get their hands on Keith they weren’t ever going to let him go again. And Lance would be threatened with bodily harm if he did anything to hurt Keith. Because one thing that Veronica knew that Lance probably didn’t, or if he did he didn’t find out until later, it was Keith’s back story. She did a little bit of snooping on the other boy after he had gotten thrown out. What? She was curious and she needed to know whether she had to track down and beat up the boy who made her baby brother cry like that. And what she found really shocked her to her core. She just hopes that the two of them have a long, happy and loving life with each other. 

================================================================================

Keith was going to kill him. He was so going to kill him, after all of the stupid stunts that he's pulled in his life and now Shiro wants to take a page out of his book. Like Hell, he was going to let Sendak kill his brother. He’s lost his brother too many times already to let it happen again. Shiro wasn’t going to die today, because for once, Keith would be there to protect him. Ever since he met Shiro, the older man has gone out of his way to protect Keith, to make sure that he was okay.. Shiro gave his all to him, and no matter how much Keith tried, or how many times Shiro said he didn’t owe him anything, he always felt like he could never make it up to him. And it just made something in him ache. Shiro was one of the nicest people in the whole world, if not the universe. He deserved every good thing that could possibly happen to him to happen. And not the mostly shitty hand that he’s been dealt in life. And Keith doesn’t care that he’s biased, and yes he knows that everyone has their faults including Shiro, but that doesn’t make it any less true. No one’s perfect, but Shiro doesn’t let his faults and shortcomings get in the way of doing what’s right and that’s something that he’s installed in Keith at a young age. 

Shiro’s been there for him through thick and thin, and has never given up on him, even when Keith himself has told him that he should have. Shiro was his friend, his best friend, his mentor, his comrade, his confidant, and more importantly, he was his older brother. And he loved Shiro so much, and he wasn’t going to let him die, he just wasn’t. He’s already lost his Dad, and Gloria, and there was no bringing them back, no second chances. He got one with both his Mom and Shiro and he wasn’t going to mess any of that up now. Shiro was going to live and that was the end of the discussion. He just hopes that Lance and the rest of the team could forgive him if does something a bit rash and things don’t end well for him. 

********************************* 

It was over. It was finally over, Sendak was dead, he couldn’t hurt them anymore. He was dead, Keith made sure of that. He’ll never be able to hurt Shiro, Lance, or anybody else ever again. His family was safe, his friends were safe, and the rest of the universe was safe from that monster. Everybody was safe now, and Keith knew that. So why did he feel so scared? Why was his skin tingly, and his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. It was getting harder to breathe, and Keith didn’t know that it could get this warm in space. He was vaguely aware of Shiro coming over and trying to talk to him, but everything sounded like it was coming from underwater. Why was it so hard to concentrate? 

============================================================================= 

Lance knows that he's said this a lot, but he was really going to kill Keith after all of this was over with. And he was doing so good too, not being a reckless hothead with no self-preservation skills! Lance was very proud of his.. Leader, friend,.. Love interest? He wasn’t really sure what they were to each other at this point since they’ve never discussed what they were. Though that was because with this whole mess that was the invasion. And to be honest Lance was using this as an excuse for why they haven’t done it yet. But Lance wasn’t going to admit that part out loud though. 

Regardless of his boy problems, Lance really is genuinely concerned about Keith. Luckily they were able to break out of their cell and get back to their lions. And with help from the Atlas,(Man that thing is so cool!) they were able to push Sendak and his forces back. In fact the Altas was able to take the hit from Sendak’s beam that he made to destroy the Earth. Which was great but it also bounced back and hit the main ship. And that sent said ship plummeting towards the Earth. Which meant that Voltron had to take over and try to move it so that it would fall in a deserted area and not cause even more damage to the Earth. That part wasn’t the problem though. The problem here was that not all of them went to stop the falling ship hurtling towards the Earth at the speed of light. No, only four of them, count them four of them went to do that. Which wasn’t a problem, Yellow was built to take a hit, Blue was durable under the most extreme conditions. Red, even though he was known for being the fastest, was stronger than he looked, and with all of the time Pidge had tricked out Green, she had some surprises up her selves. The only one not present for this moment was Black, and with no Black that also meant no Keith. And that was the part that worried Lance the most. 

Right as they were going to intercept the falling ship, they got a transmission from Veronica on the Atlas saying that Shiro had gone after Sendak. And before any of them could even blink at the news Keith was giving the order to go and stop the ship while he went to go save Shiro and help out if need be. He was gone in a flash before Lance could protest anything. And even though, it irked Lance a little bit at how Keith just took off just like he used to do when they first started out and he was younger, more hot headed and slightly suicidal, he got it. Shiro was the closest thing that he had to a real blood brother, and he was currently in danger of being murder by a crazy alien warlord who’s been gunning to take him out for years. Lance can get behind concern for a family member, especially siblings. Lance knew that he would be doing the exact same thing, if not something even crazier if it were Luis, Marco, Veronica, or Rachel in danger, and let alone his parents or grandmother. Lance understands why Keith is going after Sendak, and he knows that even if he volunteered to go in his place, Keith would say no after what happened the first time they faced that evil space prick. Which is kind of sweet and at the same time it just made him even more nervous. After what happened with him, Lance could only imagine what Sendak would do if he got his hands on Keith. And it wasn’t anything good. But he had to keep going on and get his head in the game. They still had a planet to save, and a ship to stop from crashing. And he had promised Keith that he would take over and deal with this. He just hopes that Keith comes out of this mostly unharmed.   


============================================================================== 

Even as Krolia has grown and matured as she has aged over the years, she still isn't one to like to admit that she was wrong. And this is one of those times. Russell was right, Keith was going to turn out to be exactly like her. Which she finds interesting since she spent over half of his life away from him in space. Though as the old saying goes, like mother like son. And Krolia does like that her and her son share similar traits with one another. She still kicks herself for leaving and not finding some way to keep in contact with him and Russell, but she was scared. It was too dangerous, she was always worried that someone was going to find out that she lied and that the Galra would go to Earth, and not only either enslave or destroy the planet to get the Blue Lion after they kill her, but they would get Keith and Russell too. And while Zarkon himself has a halfblood son, not everyone in the Empire was very fond of it. And Krolia knew if the right general got to the planet then it was game over for everyone. And of course it had to be Sendak who went there. He’s the one who was most opposed to anyone not being full Galra. 

And of course with her luck, he had to take a liking to trying to kill her son and his adoptive older brother. And she actually likes Shiro too! She admires the young Earthling, and is very grateful that he stepped up and took care of her son when no one else would. She knows that he loves Keith like he’s his own flesh and blood. And for that she is eternally grateful. Krolia will admit that she knew some things about Earthlings, and then the rest of it she was just clueless about. Russell tried his best in the short amount of time that they were together to explain it to her, but there was only so much that she could do. But she knew enough to know that some humans were nice, and kind, they would do anything for you no matter what regardless of whether they get anything for it or not. (Russell was one of those people, along with Shiro, and she had hoped that Keith would turn out like that and she was thankful that he did.) Then there were some people who gave off that impression, but in reality they weren’t. And finally there were the people that just didn’t care and were selfish and only thought about themselves. She knew from Keith that he got stuck with a lot of those people after his Dad died. (And did she mention that it broke her heart when she found out that the only person that she had ever loved in a romantic way was dead for over a decade in Earth time and she never knew? (Though how was Keith supposed to tell her? He didn’t even know she existed until a year before hand, but details.))  


Another thing that Krolia has noticed is that her son really has no self-preservation skills. She’s not quite sure who he got that from, since Russell didn’t care if he got hurt as long as others were alright, and considering he died doing that. Shiro has that tendency to do things too, and she’s banking on the behavior being learned. But, she can’t say anything since that’s how she always acted before she got pregnant with Keith and realized that she had more than just herself to look after now. With her luck it was a combination of spending time with all 3 of them and the fact that it’s embedded in his DNA. With that being said, she just hopes that she can get back to Earth and her son in time before something bad happens. Or Keith decided to go off and do something stupid. Whichever happens first. She doesn’t know what she would do if something happened to Keith, even though he was a fully grown adult now, he’s still her little baby boy and no, and she means no one is going to lay a hand on him. And this time Kolivan wasn’t going to stop her. She wasn't going to let what happened with her sister and Axca happen to her and Keith. She wasn't going to leave her baby, not again, not ever. And that was a promise that she intended to keep. 


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that it's only been two days but I finished earlier than I expected. So here's the last chapter. I plan to have the last one up either this weekend or sometime next week maybe? We'll see. Anyway the only warning that I have is that during Keith's part he kind of comes undone a little bit and it deals with him killing Sendak and the aftermath of that. So I think;s that all of it, so if that's triggering or anything just skip it and go on to Pidge's scene I think. And yes, I know that there's no Hunk in this chapter, but I gave him a really solid 2 parts in the last one and I couldn't of anything else to do for him this time. Don't worry he's in the next one! Anyway, I'll shut up and let you guys get to it then. Have a nice day and stay safe out there.   
> -N.

Chapter 13 

They had to do something. They had just gotten Sendak's ship out of the way when they saw a meteor shooting towards the Earth. But as it turns out it's not a meteor after all, it's a robeast. Just the icing to the cake top that was Lance's crappy day. Oh joy. And yes, Lance is being sarcastic about that if you haven't been able to tell already. And all that Lance could think about was just how he all wanted this to end and for everything to go back to normal. He wanted Sendak gone, and the Earth to be safe. He wants his family and friends to be okay. He wants everything to work out so that he can finally hash things out with Keith. No more pussy footing around, no more excuses, or dodging the question. He is in love with Keith and he wants him to know if fully, and that he wants to be with him. At this point Lance doesn't care if Keith rejects him or not, after all of the shit that they've just been put through Lance wants to get this off his chest. 

Lance just hopes that they are able to survive all of this. That new robeast-like thing is tough, and it's not going down without a fight, that much is clear already. And it just pisses Lance off even more so. There is so much wrong here and he just wants to take a step back and scream at the top of his lungs. He can only imagine Keith and Allura telling him how unprofessional that is, but at the moment he really doesn't care. He's at the end of his rope here. He just wants all of his friends to be safe and that's a little hard to do when there's a giant space monster coming at them to try and kill them all and then some. And like he always tells Hunk, there's always something out there that will come along to try and kill them. That's just a fact of life now, it must just be a Paladin thing, or maybe it was just a them thing. He questions that since every time he's asked Allura or Coran about the previous Paladins and all of the trouble that they got themselves into before Zarkon went batshit crazy and turned evil, he hasn't gotten much. The worst thing that either of them could come up with was some celebration on another planet that the Garla ended up destroying, Lance couldn't remember the name of it though. Either way the jist of it was that Trigel punched a dude who tried to feel her up, Gyrgan almost ended up as part of this whole large community orgi thing(Lance had to stop Coran from going into detail, it was just too weird.), Blaytz ended up naked not that long after they had gotten there and to this day they still don't know what happened to his clothes. Coran himself almost ended up the space equivalent of being married to both Alfor and Zarkon (Lance shuttered at that.) But that was just bizarre, not down right deadly. 

Lance was really starting to think that the universe was just out to get them or something. Either that, or all of them have done something horribly unspeakable and are now facing the karma for it by having God punish them in space. And yes, even with all of the weird and wacky stuff that has gone on in his life and stuff that they have seen in space, Lance is first and forevermore a devout Catholic. He little but as a child spent every single Sunday morning until he went to the Garrison at a church pew, attending Mass. And he knows better than to go against his religion, his mother always made it clear about what would happen to him then. 

He was getting off topic here. Anway, back to the matter at hand, this whatever beast was really freaking strong, and it was handing their asses to them. No matter what they did there was always a counter attack, it was stronger than them, and everything that they threw at it either just made it even more powerful, or pissed it off. Though with their luck it probably did both and then some. And hearing the chatter over the comms, Lance wasn't the only one who was on the verge of panicking. And he could hear it in Keith's voice that he was struggling trying to find a way to fix things. And for once Lance was inclined to tell him that he can't fix things this time. 

Not that long after everyone started panicking, was when the Lion's got zapped. One minute, they were struggling, trying to get this thing weakened, find a weak spot, something, and the next Lance felt like a shock was sent through his system. Then Red went unresponsive, like he was dead, and no matter what Lance tried he couldn't reach him, or get him to respond to anything. And he wasn't the only one. All of the other lions had lost their charge too, and no one could get anything to work. This.. This was bad... Lance wasn't going to sugarcoat it or anything, this was really, really bad. Not even the Atlas could really do any damage to it, and the thing could turn into a giant robot that dwarfed the size of both the robeast and Voltron! (Shiro or Sam never told them it could do that!) Nothing good can ever come of the fact that something was powerful enough to suck the life out of the lions. This wasn't good. 

And when it finally sunk in just how dire this situation was, it felt like he had ice in his veins. This was it, this was how he was going to die this time. And there was no bringing him back this time, this was it, this was the end of the line for him, and the rest of Voltron. And one of the only thoughts that kept running through his head over and over again was Keith. Lance loves Keith so much, it makes his heart ache, even though they got off to a pretty rocky start, he knew that Keith was it for him, and no one else. He didn't care about Keith's trauma, his horrible past, his Garla heritage, or his temper, he loved Keith for who he was, and none of the other stuffed matter in the long run. And Lance regrets it so much that he never fully told him exactly how much he loved him. At least if he dies today, he's got to see his family one last time, and he's vaguely confessed his love to the guy he's had a crush on since he was 13 years old. But it wasn't enough. Even though the Lion's were down, they still had the comm links in their helmets that were fully functional. Before Lance could stop himself, he switched over to a private line between him and Keith that they used to use all the time on their journey back to Earth. It took Keith almost no time at all to pick. "Lance? What's wrong?" Keith asked on the other line. He sounded breathless, nervous, panicked, and scared. In all of the time that he's known the other boy, he's never heard Keith sound so scared, and so small. And it caused Lance 's brain to go into overdrive and the next he knew he blurted out " _Maldita sea, Keith, te amo tanto, tanto que ni siquiera lo sabes. He estado enamorado de ti desde que teníamos 13 años y no sé qué habría hecho con mi vida si no hubieras estado ahí para mí. Sé que realmente no te valoras tanto, pero si morimos hoy, solo debes saber que me preocupo por ti, te amo tanto que duele, y recuerdo el momento de unión, lo hago, simplemente me asusté después. y no dije nada y lo siento, pero te amo, solo recuerda que te amo por favor._ " And then he hung up and ignored the line everytime Keith kept trying to ping him. At least he confessed fully now, and he can die a happy man. 

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No, no, no, no, no. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening. The lions were down, and they were just sitting ducks waiting to be taken out. Keith was panicking and that was something that he really shouldn't be doing at the moment. Though he didn't know if it was because he was still coming off the high of killing Sendak, or the situation at hand or a combination of both, but it was really messing with his head. This wasn't real. This wasn't supposed to happen, this isn't supposed to be how it was going to end. They were supposed to win, they were all supposed to win, and go home and everything was going to be okay. Sendak was done, and that was supposed to be the end of it. But no, a new robeast had to come in and try and kill them. Where the hell did this one even come from?! 

Though now was not the time to really worry over where it came from and focus more on how they are going to get rid of it. At this point, Keith was all for any ideas that anyone could come up with. No matter what they did, it didn't seem to put a dent into the thing. If anything all that they were doing was adding fuel to the fire and pissing it off even more! It was then that Keith felt the anxiety thrumming through him and beating around his body like a kick drum. It took all of the little willpower that he had left at this point to not just break down on his team. He had to keep it together, his team needed him, his family needed him, his friends needed him, his planet needed him, and the universe needed him to keep it together. Even though he felt like he was coming undone at the seams Keith couldn't just let whatever this was go on and terrorize the whole universe. He had to do something here.  


Even though he was trying and failing to come up with a plan that worked, things kept coming at them. The robeast has sucked all of the life out of the lions, they were all down. And no matter how much Keith openly begged, pleaded, demanded, and threatened nothing would work. Black... Black, was like dead, and nothing Keith was doing was working, and all of the lions were doing the same thing as well. Just when he thought that all hope was lost, Shiro and the Atlas swooped in to try and save them. Keith was in awe, he was shocked,.. He, he was pissed that his brother didn't tell him that his new ship could transform into a giant robot and be all cool and awesome like that. (Yes, he knows that Keith, your inner geek is showing!) But even that didn't seem to do much. And right when he was in another round of begging with Black to come back along with the other lions he got a message from Lance. Without thinking twice about it, he opened their private channel that they had going for who knows how long and was a little uneasy when all he got was breathing. "Lance? What's wrong?" Keith asked him. He waited a few ticks with baited breath before Lance started talking a mile a minute in Spanish. " _Maldita sea, Keith, te amo tanto, tanto que ni siquiera lo sabes. He estado enamorado de ti desde que teníamos 13 años y no sé qué habría hecho con mi vida si no hubieras estado ahí para mí. Sé que realmente no te valoras tanto, pero si morimos hoy, solo debes saber que me preocupo por ti, te amo tanto que duele, y recuerdo el momento de unión, lo hago, simplemente me asusté después. y no dije nada y lo siento, pero te amo, solo recuerda que te amo por favor._ " Keith had absolutely no idea what he just said to him and before he could ask, Lance hung up on him. And no matter how many times he tried to call back, the asshole wouldn't answer him! 

One good thing did come from it though. He was pissed enough to not give up. When Lance wouldn't answer him Keith turned back to the public channel for all of them and did one final hail mary and hoped that it worked. "Paladins, I know we're all in bad shape, but we have strength together. This is Earth. This is our home. We're going to defend it." Keith said, after he got all of them online. He knew that it sounded cheesy and predictable, but Keith was all out of options. They didn't have another plan or back up here. This was it, they were the Earth's last line of defense beside the Atlas and Griffin's team. And they were in the middle of getting their butts kicked, so it was all up to them. At least they might be able to slow it down some to give the Atlas time to try and get everyone to safety. Lucky for Keith it wasn't that hard for him to convince the other's to join him. And it was that moment that the lions decided to come back on line. And with one final deep breath they formed Voltron and went at it. 

And as they were going after the robeast and were hurtling towards the Earth in a fiery inferno, Keith took some time to think. He thought about his mom, his dad, Shiro, Kosmo, the usual stuff. But he also thought about Lance, and how he really hoped that they could have had a life together. He loves Lance with all of his heart, and he regrets that he was never able to tell him that before now. Even when Keith was at his worst and Shiro was gone Lance was always there for him, he never left. He was Keith's support system, the thing that kept him in check all of these years, he always knew that he could count on Lance. And, even though he knew that hoping that Lance returned his feelings was really wishful thinking, he even dreamed about having a family with Lance. When Keith found out that not only was he part Garlan, he was also a carrier and that meant that he could get pregnant, he was freaked out beyond belief. He thought that he was a freak and that no one would love him, and that he would be the worst person ever to give a kid to. But, Lance changed all of that, he made him feel normal, and loved, especially when he didn't, and Keith has always entertained the thought of having Lance's kids. Late at night, especially during his nights with the Blade, Keith would dream about a little girl and boy both with jet black hair, tan skin, and ocean blue eyes, mini-versions of Lance staring right back at him. It's what got him through some of his hardest nights there. Keith smiled to himself as they continued to hurtle towards the Earth. He continued to think those happy thoughts, until he hit his head and it all went black. At least if he was going to die, he died a happy man.  


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Pidge is just a little bit upset at her father. He never told her that the Atlas could do this!? She knows that when they got back to Earth there wasn't a whole lot of time to go over everything before they were thrusted back out into the warzone. And yes, her father did show them the Atlas's design plans and the actual thing itself, but he failed to mention the fact that it could transform into a giant robot that was bigger than both Voltron and this new robeast combined! Though Pidge knows that she's not really upset with her father, more upset with the fact that she had to find out about the big surprise at the same time as everyone else did. Normally, she knew in advance about these things, since usually she was told in advance or she was the one who came up with it in the first place and just didn't tell anyone so she could see Hunk scream. Ah, it's always the small things in life that bring her, the most pleasure. 

Moving on though back to the topic at hand here, they were all a bit in a bind at the moment. Voltron was down, and no matter what Pidge or anyone else did could bring the lions back online. The Atlas was supercharged and out there fighting like it's life depended on it, which it kind of did. And it was severely having its ass handed to it by the robeast. Speaking of the robeast, where did it come from?! The last time that they had faced anything similar to a robeast was probably Lotor in the riff, but Pidge doesn't really count that since Lotor was still alive at the time. So that means it was still when Zarkon was alive then right? Had it really been that long? Man, times sure flies when there's things out there trying to kill you. She's been spending way too much time around Lance lately. 

She really hopes that they're able to get out of here. Even though things look bleak at the moment and more likely than not they're probably going to die out here or something, Pidge has this childish-like hope that they make it out alive. If not her, then the rest of them. She knows that she's young and she has her whole life to live in theory, but she doesn't care about that now. Maybe it's because she's had to grow up a lot out there in space with really no parental supervision besides Coran, or maybe it was because she loves all of the idiots just as much as she loves her own family, but she didn't want them to die. And while Pidge herself doesn't want to die either, if there was a choice between them and her, she'd choose all of them in a heartbeat. And she knows that she's more known for the fact that she keeps to herself, really doesn't do emotion or affection at all, but she loved these people, they've been her family either or whole life, or these past 4, almost 5 years in space. They were all that she had, and she'd go through the worst torture imaginable, and do anything and everything that it took to make sure that they made it out alive. Pidge was pulled out of her thoughts when her helmet went off, signaling that Keith wanted to talk to all of them. 'Good,' she thought. Maybe their leader had a plan after all that could save their asses yet again by the skin of their teeth. 

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Matt was so going to kill her, once his ship gets there that is. Katie was so going to get an earful from him. For the longest time he had hoped that she was safe on Earth far, far away from anything space or giant alien purple cats related. It was one of the only things that kept him going through his time in captivity after he got separated from Shiro until he was rescued by the rebels. He thought that Katie would be better off being in the dark and safer that way. As it turns out it was all just a pipe dream, since his baby sister did the exact opposite of it. It was a little over a year or so later that he almost got stabbed by said little sister. Matt was shocked to say the least, out of all of the places that he could have run into Pidge in the universe, he never expected to see her here. 

And laying eyes on his baby sister after so long apart, just did something to him. It was a good something though. They worked together on many a mission trying to take down the Galra once and for all so they could go home and see their mother, and father again once they got him out of Lotor's control. Then she just up and vanished on him. And he didn't hear from her for years, not hours, not days, not weeks, not even months, years! He searched all over the known universe for his baby sister in between trying to take down the Galra infractions that showed up after Lotor vanished too. Knowing those two pieces of information only made Matt more anxious. He didn't want to admit his little sister was dead, so he kept on searching. And finally, finally, he gets word from their parents that Pidge is alive and well and is in the middle of trying to save the Earth from the Galra?! 

Now don’t get him wrong, Matt was over the moon that he got his baby sister back. He loved it! But with all of the news that he’s been getting from his crew about Earth, he was really nervous. He wanted Pidge to be okay, he really wanted Pidge to be okay. He knew that he was going to lose it and kill Pidge if the little gremlin did something to get herself killed.(And he knows the literary inconsistency, but he doesn’t care.)

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Romelle has never run so fast in her life before, that much she is sure of. She had to get to the hospital, Allura was hurt and she needed help, along with the rest of the Paladins of course, but she still needed help. When she saw the lions go down from the windows of the Atlas, she really felt her heart stop. It felt like all of the air was sucked out of the room and she couldn’t breathe. At one point she was even considering that all of this wasn’t real. This wasn’t real, this couldn’t be happening. 

One minute Sendak was gone, she knew that Keith and Shiro took care of him, and besides the fact that his ship was trying to hurtle to the Earth, they had won. Which just made everyone overjoyed. Then, it came. At first everyone just thought that it was some sort of meteorite that was coming into orbit. Then it started attacking Voltron. It made Romelle nervous at first, though she kept reassuring herself that nothing bad was going to happen, after all they just defeated Sendak and they could take this over too. But whatever that thing was it was kicking their butts. Romelle didn’t know what the quiznack that thing was but, for some reason it seemed oddly familiar to her and she didn’t know why. But she put that thought in the back of her mind and decided to focus on the situation at hand. The Atlas had to step in and take over and even though it was now kicking their butts, they were holding their own since the Lions were out of commission. The next thing that she knew that thing was defeated and both that and Voltron went flying towards the Earth. And Shiro couldn’t get the Atlas back to the Earth fast enough. She had to make sure that Allura was okay. 

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Coran didn’t know how to feel. All of this chaos and madness wasn’t giving him that much time to process everything that was going on. It’s been a long time since he’s felt like this before. The last time that he felt like this was the day that Altea was destroyed. All that Coran could do was just monitor the situation and hope that it would all work in the end. It just made him anxious as he was watching the fight go down from the Atlas. The Paladins had to be okay, Allura had to be okay. He promised her father all of those years ago that he would protect her and make sure that she would be alright. Coran loves Allura like she was his own kid and he wasn’t going to stand here and watch her die before him. 

When things were really starting to get sticky, he leaned over and wrapped Romelle up in his arms. He liked the younger Altean well enough, and she was a sweet kid. But he wasn’t born yesterday and he wasn’t stupid either. He knew that Romelle had feelings for Allura, that much was obvious to him, though he wasn’t sure if Allura had noticed. She’s been a little bit preoccupied with all of the drama and heartache that Lotor and Sendak have caused her. Her knew that Allura got along with Romelle well enough and he could see the two of them getting together, but he couldn’t say for sure. But regardless of whether he was looking at a new in-law or not as the Earthlings call it, he held her as they watched Voltron fall to the Earth. And when they finally landed, Coran wasn’t that far behind her in the search for Allura and the rest of the Paladins. 

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To say that Shiro was nervous was a huge understatement. Though he wasn’t sure who would be nervous in a situation like his. His little brother just killed the psycho that tortured him when he was in captivity. They defeated not one, but two deadly alien threats to the Earth. Though in doing so, Voltron, which his baby brother is the leader of went down. Luckily they were able to find them when they crashed landed with whatever the new robeast was going down. And they were alive! Barely, but they were alive and they were able to get all 5 Paladins out of their Lions and on their way to seek medical treatment, and even though it looked bad, Colleen and her team reassured Shiro and the rest of their families that they were all going to be okay. Which really didn’t help him that much. 

The reason that he’s really nervous now though is the fact that as soon as they had whisked his little brother and his team off into surgery, he got whisked off in the other direction. He got cleaned up and a new uniform thrown at him and he was told that he was supposed to be making a speech to the whole planet in like 20 minutes. At this point Shiro was a little bit tuned out at the moment. He was more concerned with the fact that he couldn’t be with his baby brother until Krolia got there over whether he had to make a speech. Why couldn’t Iverson do it? Though someone, he didn’t know who explained that he had to do it because he’s the Captain of the IGF Atlas, he’s been the leader of Voltron, who’s been captured by the Garla before and escaped. And he’s also one of their best pilots that the Garrison has ever seen. Shiro didn’t get much of a choice before he was thrust out into the crowd. Well, here goes nothing then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the translation for today.   
> Maldita sea, Keith, te amo tanto, tanto que ni siquiera lo sabes. He estado enamorado de ti desde que teníamos 13 años y no sé qué habría hecho con mi vida si no hubieras estado ahí para mí. Sé que realmente no te valoras tanto, pero si morimos hoy, solo debes saber que me preocupo por ti, te amo tanto que duele, y recuerdo el momento de unión, lo hago, simplemente me asusté después. y no dije nada y lo siento, pero te amo, solo recuerda que te amo por favor. -God Damn it Keith, I love you so, so much that you don't even know it. I've been in love with you since we were 13, and I don't know what I've would have done with my life if you haven't been there for me. I know that you really don't value yourself that much, but if we die today, just know that I care about you, I love you so much it hurts, and I remember the bonding moment, I do, I just got scared afterwards and I didn't say anything and I'm sorry, but I love you, just remember that I love you please. 
> 
> P.S,   
> If this is wrong I am so sorry, just tell me and I'll try to fix it.   
> -N.


	15. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending or is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter. Thank you so much to all of you who have read not only this fic, but the whole series all the way through. I know this was really slow going at the start of this. Though there's nothing really triggering in this part, still be careful and don't stress yourself out about it. And I don't know when the last part is going to come out, but it will by the start of the new year at the very latest. I still have some more housekeeping to do before hand. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read. And I'll warn you now that the big sappy author's note is going to come at the end of the last part. Have a nice day and stay safe out there! 
> 
> -N.

Epilogue 

"Hunk!" His mothers screamed as they ran into the room. Hunk was so happy to see them even though their volume made his head hurt. Their son Hunk, who had just woken up moments before, was more than a little startled when he heard the door to his room slamm open and the two women along with the rest of his family barged into the room and almost took out the poor nurse and doctor with them. Even though they were really, really, really loud, and their volume was making his head hurt, Hunk couldn't stop the smile that came to his face. He was more than overjoyed to see these two women, along with all of his uncles, and aunts, and siblings, and cousins, and grandparents and great-grandparents again. He really missed his mothers, probably more than he cared to admit. He missed all of his family though, but in some of the situations that he had been through in his time in space, he really wanted his Mom. or his Tina. He knew that it sounded childish somewhat since he was a big boy, and later fully grown adult who needed his mother to make him feel better, but he didn't care. He wanted his mom, he didn't care how old he was, they always knew what to do to make the situation better. And he's not ashamed to admit it one bit that he just wanted one of their hugs. 

Hunk was brought out of his musing not that long after when he felt a body collide with him. It surprised him somewhat and the impact hurt a little bit, but he relaxed a moment later when he realized that it was his Tina hugging him in a death grip and the woman was crying on his shoulder. It shocked him a bit since out of the two of them his Tina was the more stern one, she was loving, but she reminded him more of Keith. She loved everyone around her, but she didn't always know what to do and was a bit more separated from the situation than the rest of them. "Yay! Masina, back off a little bit you're going to hurt the poor boy!" His mother yelled as she came up behind the two of them and was trying to pull her wife away so she wouldn't break their son anymore. "It's okay Mom, Tina can stay, she's not hurting me." It wasn't really a lie, Hunk's whole body hurt and he couldn't distinguish properly whether it hurt from his previous injuries or from his Tina. His mother didn't buy into it one bit. "Hunk, baby, I love you and know that you're just trying to be sweet but you're still a horrible liar." Well, at least he tried. It didn't take that much longer for His mother to pull her wife off of Hunk, though not before Masina gave him one last hug, kissed him on the cheek, and told him that she loved him. Hunk could only smile and say that he loved her back too. He was so glad to be home. 

Not even two seconds after Hunk's mother had pulled her wife away was she on her son next. She didn't hug Hunk as hard as Masina did, but it was still firm. And Hunk didn't expect anything less from his mother. His other mother Julia was more affectionate and open with her emotions than her wife. Even though she wasn't Samoanian like Masina, she still had a pretty dark complexion, and the two of them actually favored each other a lot. And the two of them even each other out sort of like a ying and yang concept. Hunk has always loved that part about their relationship. Regardless of what happens, one of them was always to keep a cool head, and take control of the situation while the other tried not to freak out too badly. (Hunk did not inherit that trait from either one of them- It must have come from his sperm donor father then.) Even though it hurt to move, Hunk lifted up his arms enough to be able to wrap them around his mother and hug her back. "Hunk baby I love you so much and I missed you even more while you were gone." His mother said as he leaned in and whispered in his ear. And Hunk could clearly hear the emotion in her voice. "But if you ever go off and do something like that again, I swear on all that is holy in this world that I"m going to uppity kick your little ass until Hell won't have it anymore!" And yep, there came the fear of God. (Did he forget to mention that his mother grew up in the south and came from the background of a Holy Roller Church? Yeah she did.) His mother has a good morals and value system that she has passed down to him, but boy you did not want to piss the Woman off. She made be the more open one out of his mothers, but she was more hot headed than Keith at the beginning of their journey, and that's saying something. "I..I know Mom, I'm sorry, if I would have known I would have called you I promise." Hunk said and he had to try really hard not to start crying. 

Hunk's mother just shook her head and went and hugged him harder. And not even a minute later his Tina came back into the picture, and then everyone else in the room got in on it. And even though not all of them could touch him at once, and the little kids were really heavy on his legs which he was pretty sure were broken, he didn't care. After so long separated from his family and the rest of the ones that he loved, he was happy. He missed them so much and all that he wanted to do in space was to go back and see them all again. And when he finally got back and found out that they had been forced into a work camp made him sick. But he's glad that we're finally out and that they are all okay now. "I love you guys." Hunk said. "And I missed you so much." And he was crying now, but he didn't care, he was just so happy to be home. "And we all missed you too Hunk!" Everyone chorused together back at him. And that only made Hunk cry harder and it didn't take long for the rest of the room to burst into tears as well. 

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The first thing that Pidge thought that she would see when she opened her eyes was not her older brother's face hovering right over her. In fact it scared the crap out of her and the first thing that she did was scream at the top of her lungs. Once she was able to stop screaming and she was able to get her heart rate back under control. And at one point a whole horde of doctors had swarmed the room and was checking on her and simultaneously berating Matt for upsetting the paiten at the same time. It was one of the only benefits of getting the complete crap scared out of her. But nonetheless she was still glad that he was here with her. 

Once they got everything settled down, the nurses and doctors left the room, only leaving Pidge and her family there. The four of them just sort of stared at each other for awhile before anyone made a move. It kind of amazed her since it appeared that all of them were too afraid to move in fear of if they did everyone would disappear again. Like it was all some sort of fever dream. Pidge’s mom was the first one to move, she went and sat on the edge of the bed, she reached out a hand and brushed some of her daughter’s hair away from her face. And Pidge was just frozen there. She didn’t know what to do or say to that. Here she was finally reunited with her mother, father, and older brother. She was so happy to have them all back to her. For all of the lonely nights, traumatic experiences and all of those times that she thought that they weren’t going to make it, it didn’t mean anything. She worked her ass off to get here and it finally paid off. And now she could finally be with the people that she loved again, they all could. 

“Oh Katie honey.” Colleen said as she brought a hand up and rubbed away a tear from her face. She didn’t even know that she was crying at this point, she was just so relieved to be home again.“Don’t cry sweetie it’s okay, it’s all okay now.” And that was when the dam broke. She leaned over and just wrapped her arms around her mother as tight as she could and balled her eyes. It didn’t take that long before her father and brother joined in on the action as well. Not even 15 minutes later all 4 of them were huddled up together on her hospital bed crying and laughing, and hugging and crying some more. Pidge was just so happy to be home finally. And she didn’t mind at all that Matt and her mother had threatened to kill her if she ever did something like this ever again. Her dad just laughed and said that she was too much like her mother and regardless what they do or say she was going to do whatever she wanted anyway. That earned a slap to the back of his head for him from their mother. All that Pidge could do was laugh at them. Man, she missed her family.  


============================================================================== 

Lance wasn't surprised in the slightest that it was Nadia and Slyvio that woke him up. He really wasn't. It was something that he used to do to people all the time when he was their age. So really, it was his karma working against him at this point. Though he really didn’t care, he was just happy to be reunited with his family again. Opening his eyes he was met with the site of all of his family members crammed into the same room together. It just made his heart melt at the sight, he was so happy. “Tio Lance, Tio Lance!” Nadia and Sylvio screamed as they launched themselves at him. It hurt from his injuries but he didn’t care at the moment he was just so happy to be here. It took about 5 minutes for Lisa and his mother to pry the two of them off of him. And once they were off, everyone was taking turns hugging him and screaming. In the great mix of Spanish, English, and some French, Lance was able to recognize some I love you’s, death threats, a couple of groundings, and so on. But he was so happy to be home, did he mention that already? 

In a flurry of family and doctors and nurses in and out of the room, Lance was finally able to get some calm into the room. He had his Paladin helmet out and was using it to distract his niece and nephew while he talked to the adults of the room. “How is everyone else?” He asked his mother. She was the only one who probably knew anything since she was a nurse, and the fact that Veronica got roped into that speech thing with Shiro as well.”They’re okay, all of you got banged up pretty bad, but your friend Keith got the worst of it.” She told him. “I think the doctor said that his lion took most of the hit from that thing on the way down.” She said. “Out of all of you he spent the longest in surgery.” His mother said. “But they were able to fix everything the last time that I talked to his mother.” She said. Wait a minute. “You talked to his mom?” He asked her. His mother just nodded his head. “Yes, she is a very nice woman, and Keith looks a lot like her.” Lance just nodded his head. His mother met his sort of boyfriend’s mother while both of them were knocked out cold. That was good right? 

Pondering this over in his head for a couple of minutes Lance finally decided on what he was going to do. While he was doing that, everyone else in his room had gone off into their own groups for different conversations about stuff Lance didn’t know, and he really didn’t care at the moment. He had bigger fish to fry now.“Hey Mama?” He asked his mother. “Yes mijo?” She asked him. “I am cleared to move around and stuff yet?” He asked her. “I don’t know baby, the doctor hasn’t said yet. Why?” She asked him. “Can you get one in here and ask please, I need your help.” Lance told her. His mother had a knowing smile on her face. “What do you need me to do honey?” She asked him. “I need someone to get me some purple flowers, and to wheel me down to the gift shop.” He told her. “ Do you think they have stuffed hippos in the gift shop?” Lance’s mother just laughed and shook her head at him. “Oh, only you mijo, only you.” Lance couldn’t help but to smile at her. He loved his mother and he missed her so much. “I love you Mama.” He told her. “I love you too baby.” Now, he just had to get this done, it was something that he should have done a long time ago and it was very overdue. 

============================================================================== 

Allura could tell that when she woke up by the looks on Coran and Romelle's faces that they were relieved. It didn’t take long once she regained consciousness that Coran and Allura had launched themselves at her. Both of them were crying, and it made Allura cry as well. Even though she was in a fairly large amount of pain, she was still so overwhelmed with joy that she was alive. And she didn’t care anymore or what anyone thought about her. She wanted to be with the ones that she loved quiznack! And there was something that she should have done a long time ago, that she never thought that she would ever be able to do. 

Once they both pulled back, Allura had grabbed Romelle by the hand and pulled back. Even though she seemed a little bi surprised by her actions, Romelle ended up sitting on the edge of her bed. She caught Coran moving back out of the corner of her eyes and she saw her pseudo-uncle back up and out of the room. And as always, Coran always knew what she was up to and was giving her the room to do it. Romelle just looked at her in confusion. And Allura couldn’t help but smile at the confused look on her face. Oh Ancients was she cute. Well, here goes nothing. 

“Allura?” Romelle asked her softly. Allura just reached out and cupped her face in her hands. “I am so stupid.” She told him. “All this time I have been so oblivious to what was right in front of me and I have done nothing about it.” She told him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Allura.” Romelle said. “You’re not making any sense.” She argued. “I.. I love you Romelle.” Allura said. “And I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize it.” “I love you too Allura.” Romelle said. “I was so scared when Voltron went down and I thought that you were dead.” She cried. And Romelle just wrapped her arms around the blonde and pulled her up to her chest. “I am sorry Romelle, but I’m okay now and I promise I’m not going anyway anytime soon.” Allura told her. Romelle pulled back and the two of them just looked at each other. Then they leaned in closer and pressed their lips together in a short chaste kiss.

================================================================================ 

Keith woke up covered in drool, with a giant space wolf on his chest and his mother trying to pry said space wolf off of him. All in all it really wasn't a bad way to wake up except for the headache, stomachache, whole body ache and so on. Though as soon as Keith was awake enough, he was able to tell that he had more than just a stomach ache. He pushed Kosmo off of him and leaned over to vomit over the side of the bed. Luckily for him, someone was holding a bucket to contain it. And Keith didn’t even jump when he felt a hand on his back trying to steady him he was so busy trying not to tip over into his own vomit. It sucked. 

Once he was done, he leaned back against the hospital bed he was in and brought his hands up to rub at his eyes. God, did his head hurt. “Keith, are you okay? Do I need to get a doctor?” A soft voice asked. And it didn’t take him that long to realize that it was his mother talking to him. Keith dropped his hands and cracked open his eyes and came face to face with his mother. Krolia looked like she hadn't slept in a week, and that she was about ready to pull her hair out. “Mom?” He croaked out. Krolia gave him a small smile at that. “Yeah Keith it’s me, how are you feeling honey?” She asked. And Keith was surprised that she had called him that. “Bad.” He told her. “How long have you’ve been here?” He asked her. Krolia just hummed and brushed his bangs out of his face. “I think of a couple of quintents I think.” She told him. “I’m not sure, by the time Kolivan and I got here, you had already been recovered from the Black Lion and were in prep for surgery.” She told him. And it was only then that Keith noticed that Kolivan was standing behind his mother in the back of his room. “You didn’t have to come.” He told him. Kolivan just shook his head at him and Keith could have sworn that he saw the man smile at him. “Nonsense Blade.” He told him. “You are like family, and besides I still owe you for the druid.” He said. All that Keith could do was chuckle at him. 

“What’s the damage?” Keith asked after a couple of minutes. Krolia had sent Kolivan out of the room to go get a doctor and it was just the two of them and Kosmo. “Out of all 5 of you, you were hurt the most, the Black Lion took most of the brunt of the robeast on the way down.” She explained to him. “You have a concussion and bruised ribs, a fractured wrist, sprained ankle, and a twisted knee.” She explained to him. Keith just nodded his head and leaned back against his pillows. “That explains why I hurt everywhere.” He told her. “Yeah it does.” Krolia told him. “You had me worried.” Krolia told him. “By the time we got here, they had whisked Shiro off for a debrief and no one could tell me anything.” “I’m sorry.” He told her. “Don’t be, you saved everyone, but if you ever do something like that again I’m going to kill you, you got it.” She told her sternly. Keith just nodded his head at her, he was still zonked out of his mind from the pain meds that they had him on, and he wasn’t really processing what was going on at the moment. “I love you Mom.” He told her. “I love you.” Krolia just chuckled at him. “I know Keith I know, I love you too.” She told him. At this point Keith could hardly keep his eyes open, but he was determined to stay awake for his Mom. At some point Kosmo had clambered back onto his lap and had snuggled up against his chest. The heat radiating off of him was putting Keith to sleep.  


“Go to sleep Keith.” Krolia said. “I’ll still be here when you wake up.” She told him. And Keith tried to stay awake, he really did, but he wasn’t able too. And he ended up falling asleep. Though right before he fell asleep, Keith could have sworn he heard someone speaking above him. “I love you so much, and regardless of how old you get or what you do, you’ll always be my baby.” Krolia whispered as she leaned down and placed a kiss on her son’s forehead. 

============================================================================= 

James couldn't believe that he was doing this. He really couldn't, but besides the fact that his team was forcing him to do this, it was the right thing to do. But here he was, walking through the halls at the Garrison hospital trying and if he might add failing at trying to find the room where Keith Kogane was located. James doesn't even know why he’s doing this. Yes, it’s the right thing for him to do after all of the shit that he’s put the other through all of these years, but he’s not going to forgive him anyway so what was the point. If he were Keith he wouldn’t forgive him, and knowing Keith like he does, he’s pretty sure that even if he’s hooked up to a bunch of tubes and crap, he’d rip every single one of them off to beat James to a pulp. Which is why he’s slightly annoyed that he had let himself be threatened by Nadia, corosed by Ryan and guilt tripped by Ina into going to see Keith. So, James ended up just sucking it up and going to see him.  


James knew that he couldn’t go in empty handed, even though there was a great chance that Keith would just take whatever he gave him and use it as a weapon against him. So he figured to reduce the chance of that happening he better give him something that he liked. Though the problem was, what did Keith like? And in his defense even though him and Kogane used to be kind of friends he still didn’t know that much about him. All that he knew was that he always wore the color red, his Dad was a firefighter before he died, and his Mom had up and vanished when he was an infant. And he had the most interesting eyes that he had ever seen. Before Keith he didn’t know anyone with purple eyes. That didn’t give him a lot to go on, and young James really had tried to befriend Keith. The two of them were picked on mercilessly by their peers in school because they didn’t have nuclear family units like the rest of them. And James wanted to bond with him. But the more that he tried to bond the more Keith shut down about it. Looking back on it now, James probably should have taken into consideration that Keith was at least socially awkward if he didn’t have another type of anxiety disorder that made it hard for him to be around other people. But young James didn’t think that, he just got mad and decided to make Keith’s like a living hell, and make him pay attention to him instead of that stupid sketchbook that he always carried around… Wait.. A sketchbook that’s it, he’s a genius! So James had gone to the gift shop on the ground floor and was able to find a sketchbook and a bunch of color pencils and hoped that it would work. He was a pilot, not an artist. 

The receptionist told James that Keith and the rest of the Paladins were all being held on the same floor, and told him where to go on the 7th floor once he had shown her his ID. It took him longer than he cared to admit to find the elevator but he finally found it and headed up to the 7th floor. He barely reached the elevator before the doors closed shut on him, but he started yelling at whoever was in there to hold it for him as he bolted down the hallway. And it seemed like a por stranger was able to take some pity on him today and for that he was grateful. Stepping into the elevator, James was trying to thank the kind stranger when he froze. Before him was one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen in his life. She was tall, though a little bit shorter than him, she had tan skin, long brown hair, and the most dazzling pair of blue eyes that he had ever seen. And she was just staring at him like he was a creep. It then dawned on James that he had to talk. “Uh.. Hi.. I mean, thank me.. I mean you.. I mean thank you..” James rambled out. “Uh, you know for holding the door.” He told her. The girl just looked at him and grinned as she let out a small life. And God, he loved it so much. “It’s no problem, it was a decent thing to do.” She told him. And James really wanted to get to know her better, but he was here on a mission and he had to complete it. “What floor?” She asked as she gestured to the pad behind them. “7.” He answered her. She nodded her head and pressed the button. Then when and pressed number 10 as well. “I’m trying to find a decent bag of chips in here for my brother.” She told him. James just nodded his head at her. Yeah, a lot of people went into the hospital once the Garla had pulled back. And most of them were housed here until they were better or until further notice. The two of them rode in silence for the 5 minutes it took the elevator to take them to the 7th floor. James smiled at her, and nodded his head as he stepped out. He waved at her as the door closed behind him, and the mystery girl just waved back. “Bye James.” She said as the door shut. And it didn’t even occur to him that he hadn’t told her his name, he was just so happy she talked to him. Now, it was time to find Keith. 

*************************** 

After what felt like an eternity, James finally found the room. He hated how all of the hospitals seemed like a freaking maze to him. Standing right outside the door, James was nervous. He didn’t know what to do, or how he was going to do this. There has been bad blood between the two of them for years at this point, and James doesn't know if there’s any way to fix this or not. And he half expected knocking on the door only to have McClain open it and deck him again. After a couple of minutes of internal debate, James raised his hand and knocked on the door. Now, he expected a lot of things when the door opened. He expected Captain Shirogane to be standing behind the door. A nurse or doctor, another Paladin, somebody. But what he didn’t expect was this gigantic Galran Male to be standing there staring at him. James couldn’t help that his initial reaction was to jump back and give off a very manly scream.(It wasn’t that manly.) Staring wide-eyed at him, the Garlan male didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, he seemed to be scanning him or something. It made James feel like he was going to either puke or pee his pants. But before he could say anything, he heard a female voice ring through the room. “Kolivan, what is it, who’s there?” And not even seconds later a female one walked up behind him. And something about her was very familiar, just like that girl he met in the elevator. “Who are you?” She asked him. James panicked for a little bit before he was able to form a response. “Um,.. My name is James Griffin Ma’am, I’m a cadet with the Galaxy Garrison and I'm one of the MFE Pilots.” He told her. She seemed to be doing that scanning thing to him too, and it was really unnerving he might add. “Alright, why are you here then?” She asked him. “Um, I’m here to see Keith Kogane Ma’am if that’s alright?” He asked him. And it just perplexed James on why there were at least 2 Garlans in the same room with Keith, he thought that they had all left. “Mom, what are you doing, just let him?” Keith called from behind them. “Are you sure, you just woke up and the doctors told you to rest.” The female said. “Yes, I’m sure Mom, okay.” And it was only then that it sunk in just what they said. The female Garlan before him was Keith’s mother. Oh shit, he was screwed.  


Keith’s mother(That was still weird to think about, but now he knows why she looked so familiar to him.) didn’t look like she was very happy to let him in, but she did anyway. She made the male who she called Kolivan move to allow him access to the room. James just smiled politely at them as he entered the room. When he walked in he could see Keith sitting up in the hospital bed in the middle of the room. He had that giant wolf thing on his lap and was petting it. “James?” He asked, confused. And yeah, if their positions were reversed James would be surprised to see Keith here. “Uh yeah, hi.” He said, and then internally cringed at himself, man that sounded dumb. “I’ll admit that I’m surprised to see you here, but why are you here?” Keith asked. And James could tell by the tone of his voice that Keith was trying to get a read on him. “I, I came to see you.” He said. He then remembered that he had brought a gift with him and held it out. “I um brought you this..” James said as he held out the box he had brought. “I didn’t know if you were under any type of restrictions or not, but I got you a sketchbook and stuff to keep you from getting bored or to use to keep from getting bored.” And God, he sounded like an idiot. Keith just looked at him like he was nuts before he accepted the book. “Thank you.” He said quietly. James then turned around and looked at the room. Keith’s mother, and Kolivan were still giving him dirty looks, that wolf looked like it wanted to eat him, and Keith looked like he was confused and on the verge of falling asleep again. Yeah, this was going great. 

James doesn’t know if Keith could sense the tension in the room and tool pity on him or if he wanted to kill him with no witnesses, but he was able to convince his mother, Krolia was her name, and Kolivan to leave the room, and to take Kosmo on a walk for him since he was still stuck in bed. But regardless of his reasons, he was glad that they left, now he only had to worry about one person trying to kill him. Keith and James just stared at each other for what was like 15 minutes before either spoke. “What are you really doing here James?” Keith asked. And he just sounded so exhausted, and small, he’s never in his life thought of Keith like that. Keith was always the kid that was unreachable, he was so far out of everybody’s league that it was astronomical.“I.. I came to apologize.” James said, and he hoped that Keith could tell that he meant it. “I came to apologize for the way that I’ve treated you over the years.” He told him. “I was an asshole and I know it and I shouldn’t have messed with you, and bullied you like I did.” He told him. Keith just sat there in bed for a few moments before he spoke. “So why did you then?” Keith asked. “I never did anything to you.” He told him. James sighed and let his shoulder slump. “That’s the exact reason, you didn’t do anything.” He told him. “We both got bullied in elementary school because we didn’t have two parents, and I thought you know because of that we could be friends.” He told him. “But every time I tried to talk to you, it was just nothing!” He said while waving his hands around like a maniac. “Looking back now, I know that it was probably because you were shy and people just made you anxious or something, but I was mad and decided that I would take it out on you, try and get you to notice me that way.” He told him. And to James’s surprise Keith actually chuckled at that. “Yeah, you aren’t the first person to tell me that.” Keith told him. “And to answer your question I was diagnosed with severe social anxiety when I was 10, and after my Dad died, I didn’t like to get close to people, in case that they would leave.” He told him. Huh, James didn’t know that. “And after what happened to Gloria it only got worse.”  


“Gloria?” James asked. “Isn't she your foster mom that you had before Captain Shirogane took you in?” He asked him. Keith nodded his head. “Yeah she was, Shiro took me in when I got into the Garrison because Gloria’s boyfriend murder her right in front of me when she tried to stop him from rapeing me.” Keith told him. And God, James really felt like an ass now. This whole time, he was picking on a kid who was so traumatized and vulnerable that it wasn’t funny, and all that Keith had was very bad luck. “I’m sorry..” James said. Keith cut him off with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t know, and it was a long time ago.” Keith told him. And he had this calculating look in his eye that James couldn’t quite describe. “Do you really mean it?” Keith asked him. James was confused here. “What?” He asked him. “Do you really mean it? Are you really sorry?” Keith asked him. “Yes, I am, I am so, so sorry Keith, I know that no matter how much I tell it to you, it won’t make up for all of the years of shit I’ve put you through, and I won’t be upset at all if you never forgive me, I know I wouldn’t.” James said. “But, can we start over please, I promise if I screw it up you and McClain have my full permission to kick my ass to the moon.” That seemed to bring a smile to Kogane’s face. “I know I can’t forget it, and I don’t know if I can ever fully forgive you James.” And here it comes. “But, I wouldn’t mind starting over if you don’t, I’ve learned from my time in space that everyone deserves a second chance.” And James couldn’t help but to smile at that. “So, you’re part alien?” He asked him. “Long story.” And the two of them spent a good couple of hours catching up with each other. 

============================================================================= 

Lance was jittery, he couldn't believe that he was finally doing this. It had taken what felt like forever for a doctor to come into the room to check him out. Even though he really didn’t want Lance walking around or anything, he didn’t protest to Lance going around as long as he was in a wheelchair. So he conned Marco into loading him up and had him take him down to the giftshop with their mother. Once they got down there they all split up and within 15 minutes they had everything they needed bought and paid for. They then went back up to the 7th floor and this time instead of going back to his room, they went down the hall to Keith’s. In what felt like a mere matter of seconds and a lifetime at once they were outside of his room. Lance was nervous, he’s pretty sure that he’ never been more nervous about anything in his life. He was starting to get second thoughts about this. But it was too late now since his mother was already knocking on the door. 

Krollia was the first person to open the door, and she didn’t seem that surprised to see them. His mother gave her an award winning smile and offered to take her and Kolivan out to get something to eat. Though she asked if Keith was well enough to watch out for Lance for her while they were gone. Lance squawked at that, but other than that he didn’t protest too much. Krolia just smiled at them, and motioned for Kolivon and Kosmo to follow her out of the room. “Keith’s just woken up, so he might still be a little groggy but he should be okay, just push the button if you need anything.” Krolia said as they walked out. It didn’t take long for Marco to wheel him into the room. Keith was laying in the bed, and he seemed to be surprised to see Lance in his room. Though he was too tired to do anything about it. Lance just smiled at him as Marco wheeled him up to the bedside. “Good luck hermano.” He whispered to him with a pat on the shoulder on his way out. Well here goes nothing.   


“What are you doing here?” Keith asked him. “Can’t I just come to see you?” Lance asked him. “I mean you can, but you didn’t have to.” Keith told him. “But I wanted to.” Lance told him. And all that Keith could do was smile at him. The two of them spent the next couple of minutes staring at each other lovingly. Then it dawned on Lance that he had brought stuff with him. “These are for you.” Lance said as he leaned over and placed a bouquet of purple violets and a little stuffed hippo on Keith’s lap. Keith could only look down at them in confusion for a couple of minutes. “Thank you.” Keith finally said. “But why?” He asked him. “Because I love you, and you scared the crap out me when Mama told me your injuries.” Lance told him. “And I was so scared out there that I would never get the chance to tell you.” Lance said. “And all of that Spanish I garbled at you I told you that ‘ _God Damn it Keith, I love you so, so much that you don't even know it. I've been in love with you since we were 13, and I don't know what I've would have done with my life if you haven't been there for me. I know that you really don't value yourself that much, but if we die today, just know that I care about you, I love you so much it hurts, and I remember the bonding moment, I do, I just got scared afterwards and I didn't say anything and I'm sorry, but I love you, just remember that I love you please.’_ ” Lance told him. “I don’t ever want to spend another second away from you ever again, and I know that I drove you crazy for a long time but I love you so much Keith Akira Kogane.” He said. “And you don’t have to love me back I know that, but it’s not fair to either of us if I don’t tell you.” Lance said. 

“I love you too Lance.” Keith said. “I love you so much too.” He said. “I know that we haven’t gotten along well a lot of the time that we’ve been in space, but I love you.” Keith said. “I knew that I wouldn’t have gotten through space without you, you’re my rock, and my sanity and impulse control.. And I would have gone nuts and probably off’ed myself if it hadn’t been for you.” Keith told him. “And I was so scared that you would leave me if I told you.” He admitted. Lance just chuckled and shook his head and reached out to cup his face. “We’re a bunch of idiots.” Lance said. Keith just shook his head at him. “Yeah, yeah we are.” Keith told him. “I don’t want to be too forward, but can I kiss you?” Lance asked him. Keith just smiled at him. “I’ve been waiting for it for years you dumbass go for it.” And Lance leaned in and captured Keith’s lips on his own. And needless to say that they didn’t come up for air for a while. But it was the most perfect moment that either one of them could have hoped for,even though they were battered, bruised and in the hospital. 

============================================================================ 

A couple of months later... 

When Sam had asked to speak with Allura, she didn't think that it would end up like this. The patriarch of the Holt family had come to her room earlier to see her. Allura had been in the middle of discussing with Coran, Romelle and the space mice when she heard a knock at the door. Coran had gone to answer it for her and all of them were surprised to see Sam there, though it was not unwelcome. Sam stood just a little out over the threshold and smiled at them. Looking at him always reminded Allura of looking at Matt or Pidge. The two of them certainly took after their father more than their mother. And Allura couldn’t complain even though she looked a lot like her father, she was her mother made over. “Is there something that you need Sam?” Allura asked him. “Though your surprise visit is not unwelcome I might add.” Sam just chuckled and shook his head at them. “It’s quite alright Princess.” Sam said. “I know that my presence wasn’t planned and I am sorry for not notifying you sooner.” Sam told them. “I hope that I’m not interrupting something?” He asked. Allura shook her head. “No, we were just conversing with ourselves.” She told him. “Well, if I’m not intruding then I would hope that I could borrow your princess for a while.” Sam told them. “I need to discuss something with you that Colleen and I found on that robeast that crashed.” Allura turned to look at the other two Alteans in the room with her. Both of them looked unbothered by this and nodded their heads for her to go. Allura smiled at Sam and nodded. “Of course.” She said. “Lead the way.”  


The two of them must have walked for about 20 dobashes or so before they reached the level of the Garrison where they had kept the robeast once they were able to retrieve it from where it had crashed with the lions. Allura and Sam had made small talk along the way and Allura quite enjoyed it. She can remember a couple of leaders and diplomats that they have encountered over the years that were very bland and boring and couldn’t hold a conversation to save their lives. Before she knew it, they had reached the lab. Sam had walked over to the lock pad and pressed in the code and scanned his credentials to get in. The door had opened with a large swoosh. And Sam had gestured for Allura to go in first. “No keep in mind.” Sam said as they walked in. “We’re not really sure if this is what we think it is, but Colleen has run bio-scan after bio-scan and they match up with the recent updates that we did in our database when you and Katie and the rest of you guys were in the hospital.” He told her. “Though you are the expert on this so we all figured that it’s safer if we ask you.” Allura was confused at that. She didn’t know what Sam was talking about. It never dawned on her until she walked closer to the beast and she saw it. Allura knew that she had stopped in her tracks, and had taken in a sharp inhale. But she was stunned, and she didn’t know how to act. It couldn’t be could it? Though that was what she had thought beforehand until Keith had brought back Romelle. Other Altean existed out there in the universe but no one was able to find them, that is until now. For, the pilot behind that awful robeast was an Altean. A real life Altean just inches from her face. The young princess didn’t know what to think about it. Though one thought was crystal clear in her mind, Honerva was going to pay for this, she was going to pay once and for all and all of this was going to stop. That Allura promised.


End file.
